Faster Kill Pussycat
by bloodytuesday
Summary: When an old friend of Abby's shows up in the lab covered in her own blood, it's up to Abby and some of the team to find out what happened and keep it from Gibbs in the process.
1. Night Reconnaissance

Usual Disclaimers Apply

A/N: So this is my first NCIS fiction, I hope you like it, the idea just randomly came to me and I immediately had to write it!

Nothing is crueler than children who come from good homes  
Gotta forgive them, I guess, but whose side are you on?  
Driving around my hometown, I remember it all  
Dropping my lunchbox and tampax all over the hall  
And they said...  
You are a socialist cokehead, we know from your clothes  
You are a Satanist worshipper, oh, that's evil  
You think you're poet, a folksinger.  
A volleyball player?! You've got to be kidding us all  
So we hide from the cunts  
On a night reconnaissance  
Steal flamingos and gnomes  
From the dark side of the lawn  
-Night Reconnaissance by The Dresden Dolls-

It was nearly 6 AM, but Abby was already working on her second Caf-Pow, still less that wide awake, she didn't notice the lab door already being ajar.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you slept well."

She said with a smile as she switched the large computers on, looking around the cold lab. It wasn't until she noticed that Bert was missing from his usual perch that she realized something was off.

And so began her mad search for the farting hippo, opening cabinets, looking under tables, she nearly drove herself mad looking for him.

"If this is some kind of joke, I'm not laughing okay!" She yelled out to no one in particular. It wasn't until she heard the faint farting sound coming from the closet that she realized she never thought to look in there.

When she pulled the door open, she nearly screamed. Sitting on the floor of the closet was a young woman, dressed in tight black pants and a red corset top, her feet were bare and had the appearance of someone who'd been running on glass, her clothes were ripped; blood covered her neck and the side of her face.

Her smoky blue eyes drifted up to Abby's face, her lips set in a small frown, mixture of pain and fear etched on her pretty face. "Help me…"

"Bells …is that you?"

The girl on the floor pulled the hippo tighter, causing the normal farting sound that always made Abby feel better, but this time, it didn't help.

"Please Abby; I don't know what to do…"

She bent down in front of the girl. "How did you get here?"

The girls' blonde curls bounced as she shook her head. "I'm not really sure…"

Abby began to pull her to her feet, causing the girl to yell out as she stood straight. "What happened to you?" She asked as she pulled her into small hug. The girl just swayed, staring at Abby.

"I'm not sure of that either…"

Abby looked her over once more, and then began to pull her out of the closet. "Lets get you to the bathroom and clean you up."

She snuck the tiny blonde through the halls to the showers, sliding through the door, she turned the shower on, leading the silent girl in. "Wait here Bella, I'm going to go find you some clothes."

She ran back out the room, heading towards the lab, hoping she had extra clothes. She finally found a black tank top and black pants then quickly made her way back to the bathroom.

"Bella? Are you done?" The curtain opened, revealing Bella's wet frame. Abby grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it, helping her to step out of the shower.

"You have to tell me how you got here…" She said as she began to dress her nude friend.

"I…was coming to visit you, the plane ride took so long, I started talking to the guy next to me, he said that he had just been visiting New Orleans and was on his way home. We seemed to hit it off and he invited me to a club, so I decided it wouldn't be a big deal, I mean I meet guys back home and we go to clubs…you know you used to do it to…" Abby nodded quickly and urged her on.

"I figured that I could just surprise you at work this morning instead of you apartment, no big deal, but we went to this club and things started getting weird, he turned out to be a total control freak, he got pissed because I started dancing with a bunch of other people. So I snuck out the back door out into the alley…the next thing I know someone hits me over the head with something and I woke up in that same alley this morning, my purse is gone, and oddly so are my shoes…"

Abby pushed some of the wet hair out of Bella's face. "Do you think they…you know, did anything to you?"

Bella shook her head quickly, possibly too quickly; she swayed from the headache it caused. "No, nothing like that, I would know…it doesn't feel like that."

Abby nodded quickly. "Good…"

Abby pulled Bella into another tight hug; both were silent for some time, then Bella

broke the silence.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you talking to your computers…"

Abby nodded. "That would probably be best." They separated and both burst into laughter. "God I've missed you."

Bella nodded, then ran her hand through her wet hair, running her fingers over the bump on her head. "You wouldn't happen to have any Tylenol in that fancy lab of yours?"

Abby nodded, grabbing Bella's hand and pulling her from the bathroom, sneaking back through the halls. "I'm not even going to ask how you managed to sneak into a government building without getting caught."

"That would probably be best." Bella responded with a smirk. Abby sent her a smile and rolled her eyes as they entered the lab.

Bella walked back over to the closet, stepping in to admire hippo that now laid on the floor, Abby searched through the cabinets for her Tylenol, just as she was turning back to speak to Bella the lab door began to open.

"Shit!" She shut the door causing Bella to fall into the closet; a loud thumb sound was heard. "Sorry…" She whispered.

"I don't care probe, the fact is, Batman would kick Superman's ass any day."

"How can you say that Tony? Superman can bench press a bulldozer."

Abby rolled her eyes at the arguing agents. "Shut up, Catwoman would kick both of their asses and you know it…"

"Good morning Abby." McGee greeted with a smile.

"Morning McGee, what can I do for you two?"

"A bit forward today aren't we Abby? Trying to get rid of us?" Tony said with a smile.

"Maybe, seriously what do you need?"

Just as Tony was about to reply, the silence was broken by the familiar farting sound followed by another loud smashing sound coming from the closet. Tony and McGee both sent Abby a questioning look before stepping towards the closet door.

Tony turned the knob and pulled the door open with much more force than necessary. The sight that greeted them was shocking. A petite blonde, sitting on the floor surrounded by supplies, Tony ran his eyes over her small frame, following the tattoos on her upper arm that ran onto her rather large chest.

"Abby," McGee said while turning his attention to the scientist. "Why are you hiding a child in your closet?"

"Because Ducky wouldn't let me shove her in the freezers?"

"Take a closer look probe, a child does not have those kinds of parts…"

"Who is this?" McGee began.

"What is she doing here?" Tony added.

Abby took a deep breath. "Bells, you can come out of the closet now…"

Bella stood up slowly, rubbing her hands over her now sore butt. "I came out of the closet years ago Abby…" She shot back with a smirk.

Tony looked away from Bella with a frown. "Dammit…"

Abby laughed as Bella walked towards her, Tony examined her small form in scrutiny, she couldn't have been more than 5'5, the pants she was wearing had to be Abby's, they were far to long, he could see her pale feet sticking out from under the black fabric, her hip swayed when she walked, causing a small line of pale skin to show from under the shirt. There was a quarter sleeve of tattoos on her left shoulder that trailed onto her collar bone to her chest, her wet blonde hair stuck to her neck and shoulders making little drops of water along her shoulders and chest.

"Tony I would appreciate if you would stop checking out my best friend!" Abby shoved him causing him to stumble forward.

Bella stopped next to Abby, leaning against her slightly. "I fell on my ass twice in that damn closet…"

Abby just gave her an apologetic look, her apology was cut short by McGee's questioning.

"Who is this? How did she get in here?"

Abby sighed again, turning her attention back to the two men. "This is Belinda, she is my best friend from back home, how she got in here I'm not exactly sure…" McGee opened her mouth to speak but Abby cut him off. "I've known Bella for a long time, trust me how she did it, you don't want to know…"

"What is she doing here?" He finally asked.

"Well that's just the thing, I came here to surprise Abby, but ended up getting knocked out in an alley way last night…my purse is gone and so are my shoes…"

McGee made a confused face. "Why would they steal your shoes?"

"I dunno maybe it's the fact that they probably cost more than every pair in your closet…" Bella shot back with a frown.

"Bells, retract the claws."

Bella glared up at her. "They were my favorite pair; I'm allowed to go through a grieving phase ok?"

"And what were you doing in the alley?" He asked ignoring the previous jab at his wardrobe.

"Leaving a club…"

"What club?"

"Am I on trial here or something?"

McGee began to ask another question but Tony cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Do you hear that?"

They all stood silently listening. Abby was first to break it. "Footsteps…Gibbs!" She grabbed Bella's hand, dragging her back towards the closet, she pushed her in, mouthing sorry before shutting the door in her face.

"What the hell is taking you two so long down here?" The older agent shouted as he stepped into the lab.

"I…well he…" McGee started, but Tony cut him off.

"Sorry, Abby was having some computer problems…had to reboot."

Gibbs sent Abby a look, she just smiled. "They didn't feel up to the challenge this morning…"

"Well are they now?" Gibbs asked, humoring her.

"I'm sure they are boss."

"Good." He sent another glare to Tony and McGee before turning and walking back out of the lab. The three stood there staring at the lab door, then the closet door slowly creaked open.

"I swear to every deity know to mankind, if you push me in that goddamned closet one more time I will personally kick your ass…"

Abby burst into a fit of laughter, followed closely by Tony, McGee still looked extremely bothered by the whole situation.

"We should tell him." McGee stated flatly.

Abby shook her head. "No, we can't he'll make us turn it over to the police…you know how bad they are at investigating things."

"Come on probe, this will be fun! A secret case, just the three of us, working together without anyone knowing." Tony said, leaning against McGee.

"I just don't like lying to Gibbs." McGee responded.

Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "Let me guess, growing up you were always the one to rat on your siblings for sneaking out?"

McGee sent her a glare. "For someone wanting help you sure are bitchy."

Bella smiled. "I'm sorry, mommy never taught me to play nice."

Tony smirked at her. "I personally would much rather be naughty."

Abby shoved him again. "Stop flirting with her!" Bella just laughed and Tony rubbed his arm. "God DiNozzo, keep it in your pants for ten minutes will you?"

"Sorry it's habit…" He mumbled shifting his eyes away from the two girls.

Abby rolled her eyes and turned back to the computers. "Okay what did you two need me for again?"

"We need you to run some finger prints that were found on the wine glass in the dead marine's apartment."

As McGee droned on about the current case, Bella's eyes drifted around , checking out her best friends lab. Tony continued to keep his attention on the small blonde, a small smirk on his face.

"So what was it like growing up with Abby?"

Both girls turned to look at Tony, a small smile on their faces, remembering their teen years. "Well you know DiNozzo, it's always nice having a best friend you could make out with."

McGee was more than shocked by Abby's response. "What?"

Bella laughed. "Oh it was just a phase for Abby I'm afraid, she grew out of it, I didn't, I still love making out with girls…"

Tony shook his head. "It's a shame."

Abby rolled her eyes. "She's just playing with you Tony, Bella will pretty much make out with anyone willing…"

Bella pushed her a bit. "I am not a whore."

Abby smiled. "Never said you were."

Bella turned her head to look back at Tony, but as she turned she let out a yelp, putting her hand to her neck. "God dammit that hurt!"

When she pulled her hand away blood had pooled in her palm. Abby quickly grabbed a napkin and put it to her neck. "What the hell?"

"I don't know, it wasn't hurting until I moved."

She pulled the napkin back from her neck inspecting the wound. "It looks like a bite mark…"

"Hmm…Kinky." Tony muttered, receiving glares from the other three.

"No Tony, like a…vampire bite…"

At Abby's words the two men leaned in to inspect the mark. "So are you saying I'm going to spout fangs?"

McGee laughed. "Please I think we all no there are no such things as vampires…"

"You must have never been to New Orleans agent…" Bella muttered looking at the two men. "We have voodoo priest, vampires wouldn't be all that shocking."

"You can't seriously believe…"

Tony cut McGee off. "She was being sarcastic probe."

Bella just sent him a smile. Abby put the napkin back to her neck. "We need to get you a tetanus shot, just to make sure you don't get anything weird."

"Where could we get one of those?" Bella pulled from Abby's grasp, taking the napkin from her and keeping it to her neck.

"Ducky…" Tony said with a smile.

"Ducky? Please tell me that's some weird nickname and not the guys real name."

Abby smiled. "Actually his real name is Dr. Mallard, but everyone calls him ducky."

"Will he tell your boss?"

Abby bit her lip. "Ducky would try to convince us to tell him."

"And if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to keep it from Gibbs, he's a bad liar." Tony added.

"We could always just distract him, take the shot and one of us can give it…" McGee said with a sigh.

Bella gave him a smile. "That's the smartest thing you've said since I met you agent."

He just glared at her. "Well if I'm going to be dragged into this I'm at least going to make sure I don't get caught."

Tony threw his arm around McGee. "Welcome to the dark side probe."


	2. Ampersand

Usual Disclaimers Apply

I have wasted years of my life  
Agonizing up at the fires  
It started when I thought that to be strong you must be flame retardant  
And now to dress the wounds cause into question  
How authentic they are  
There is always someone criticizing me  
She just likes paying hospital  
Lying in my bed  
I remember what you said  
There's no such thing as accidents  
-Ampersand by Amanda Palmer-

"Ducky, are you in here?"

"Over here Abigail." The older doctor called back, standing up from his hiding spot behind a table.

"Ducky I was hoping you could answer some questions for me!" Abby said with a sly smile as she made her way towards him. Behind her, just out of Ducky's view Tony slid in making his way towards the refrigerator.

After several minutes of bullshit conversation and random questions, Abby heard the morgue door open and close, she smiled knowing Tony was out. "Thanks Ducky!" She said, cutting him off mid sentence, then practically skipping out of the morgue.

When they made it back to the lab, Tony had already drawn up the correct amount of medicine in the needle. "Great, who's going to give the shot?" McGee asked from his perch at one of Abby's chairs.

After no one offered, Bella sighed and started undoing her pants, immediately catching Tony's attention. She pushed the black material down past her knees, then hopped up onto the table she was sitting in front of.

"Give it here, I don't mind doing it."

Tony walked over, holding the syringe up in front of him, with a big smirk on his face. Once he stopped in front of her, his eyes shifted to her legs. "First tell me, is it a thong?"

Bella smirked, pulling the syringe from his hands. "To bad, any other day and it would have been commando."

Tony made a face and she laughed. Abby just shook her head sending an annoyed look to McGee. Tony wiped a spot on her leg with an alcohol wipe, then stepped back. Bella sent him another smirk before jabbing the needle into her leg. The two men grimaced, she just continued to smile.

"Meet Belinda, the masochist…" Abby muttered grinning.

She pulled the needle back out, pressing a small tissue to her leg then covering it with a band aid. Then without another word, slid off the table and pulled her pants back up.

"That was awful…" McGee groaned looking at the small blonde, shaking his head. "I can't stand needles."

Bella smiled. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Tony sighed looked between the other agent and Bella. "Well sadly, as much as I'd love to stay down here, I'm sure we're both going to get our asses chewed already for being down here this long…"

"Right…" Abby added. "I'll call you as soon as I get the finger prints back for Gibbs…" She sent a side long glance to the computer that was currently scanning.

"In the mean time…could someone sneak me some food? I'm starving!" Bella groaned crossing her arms over her stomach to make her point.

Tony sent her a smile. "No problem…we'll figure something out."

Bella sent him a smile. "Thank you agent…"

Once Tony and McGee were out side of the lab, McGee sent Tony a glare. "Don't even think about it…"

Tony feigned innocence. "What?"

"I saw how you were looking at Bella; Abby would absolutely kill you…"

Tony grinned. "You have to admit, that accent is pretty damn cute, I wonder why Abby doesn't sound like that?" McGee rolled his eyes and left Tony behind.

Back in the lab, Abby had Bella's clothes laid out on one of the table's, looking over it closely for any clues. Bella was sitting on one of the other tables, watching her friend work.

The silence was broken by Bella's shriek. "Goddammit! Those fuckers have my Ipod!"

Abby turned to her quickly, an angry look on her face. "Would you be quiet! You're breaking my concentration…and stop all that swearing, dammit! You need Jesus."

They both broke into laughter at their inside joke. Abby turning her attention back to her work with a smile on her face. More time went by, both silent in concentration, then Abby yelled.

"A hair! It's a black hair!"

Bella jumped from the table running over to the taller girl, peering down at the short strand of hair she was holding in the tweezers. "That's a good thing right?"

Abby smiled at her. "That, my friend, is a very good thing…we can get DNA from this and run it through the system, with any luck, you're little friend is in it."

Bella bounced, clapping her hands in excitement. "This is good, this is good." Abby smiled and began to work her magic, her friend watching her every mood.

"Give it a little while, hopefully we'll know soon…"

Bella smiled. "You're the bomb."

"Like tick tick…"

After finding the hair, Abby returned to inspecting the clothes with even more fervor, nearly thirty minutes went by before Tony burst through the door holding McDonalds out in front of him as if it was the Holy Grail.

Bella jumped from her spot on the table and ran to him. "Agent, I don't even know you and I love you."

As he handed her the bag he grinned. "I'm sure you say that to all the boys."

"She does…" Abby piped up from the back, never looking up from the shirt.

"Thanks Abby…" Tony replied, sighing, Bella just grinned and bounced back to the table she had made 'hers'.

"So what club was this exactly that you were at last night?"

Bella sighed, thinking back on the previous night. "The…um…God what was it…" She closed her eyes as she bit into a French fry. "Oh, oh! It was The Greenroom…that was it!"

"The Greenroom? Isn't that the new one that opened downtown?" He asked turning to look back at Abby who was still inspecting the corset.

"I dunno, I'm pretty sure."

As they were talking over the club, McGee made his way in. Listening in on the conversation, making his own comments every so often. He noticed the clothes on the table that Abby was inspecting and walked over, looking at the black and red lace.

"You wore that?"

"Yes…it's my favorite…" Bella responded through a bite of her cheese burger.

"And now its blood stained." He replied with a hint of humor.

Bella grinned. "Only adds to the appeal love."

At her comment, both men's attention quickly turned to her, Abby only smiled.

"How about probe and I take a little trip down to The Greenroom to look around?"

McGee shook his head. "It's one thing to hide her here, but I'm not getting in trouble by Gibbs for spending time at a location that doesn't revolve around the current case."

Tony sighed. "Come on, I can't go down there alone, besides what Gibbs doesn't know wont hurt him."

"Gibbs will know, Gibbs always knows."

"Oh come on, you're in this deep, don't wimp out now." Bella deadpanned from her spot on the table.

"Well then why don't you go with him?" McGee barked back, tired of being the butt of the joke.

"I don't think that would be the best idea." Abby piped up from her spot.

"Oh don't be such a downer Abbs, it'll be ok." Bella slid off the table with a grin.

"Well here," Abby said with another sigh. "Take my credit card and get you some clothes and shoes." She turned and began to dig through her bag in the cabinet.

"Oh joy, shopping." Tony deadpanned, Bella just gave him a smile.

"Now all you have to do is sneak back out of the building…" McGee added in.

"That won't be a problem." Bella answered with another big grin.


	3. Desolation Row

Usual Disclaimers Apply

Cinderella she seems so easy  
"Well it takes one to know one" she smiles  
And she puts her hands in her back pockets  
Bette Taylor style  
And now here comes Romeo moaning  
"You Belong to Me I Believe"  
And someone says " You're in the wrong place my friend  
You better leave"  
And the only sound that's left  
After the ambulances go  
Is Cinderella sweeping up  
On Desolation Row  
-Desolation Row by Bob Dylan-

"So that's how you got in?!" Tony practically shouted at her as they were leaving the parking lot in his car.

Bella burst into a fit of giggles at his shock. "Yes, that's how I got in."

He just shook his head and sped onto the road. As they got into the busy town, Bella began to look around for a store she could possibly find some clothes, it wasn't until they were in the parking lot that Bella realized where they were.

"Oh hell no! Leave now!"

"What? They have clothes?!"

Bella turned her attention back to the K-Mart sign, shock still showing on her face. "Yea, really, really crappy clothes, leave! Find me a mall, I'll even settle for an American Eagle."

He sighed. "This is why I shouldn't go shopping with a woman…" He muttered as he pulled from the parking lot back out onto the main street.

"Yea I heard that agent."

Several minutes later a disgruntled Tony pulled the car into the mall parking lot. As they began walking towards the large building, he noticed the look of sheer excitement on Bella's face and couldn't help but smile.

When they walked through the doors, Bella ran to the nearest map of the mall, still smiling in delight. "I have found Mecca and it is filled with two hundred stores!"

Tony groaned. "This is going to be a long trip isn't it?"

Bella just sent him a smile and ran towards the nearest store she was interested in.

"I've never even heard of this store…" Tony yelled to Bella who was busy trying things on in the dressing room.

"How have you never heard of Rave?"

He sighed. "Look around you, do you see any men's clothing in this store?"

"Good point." She yelled back.

Nearly ten minutes later, Bella walked from the dressing room holding several items of clothes. She sent him a cheeky grin before skipping to the register.

"Aren't you going to change into those?" He asked as they were finally leaving the mall.

"Yea, in the car…"

He unlocked the car, sending her a strange look and Bella smiled. He started the car and she started digging through the bag to get the clothes she needed to change into. Pulling out the green halter top she had just bought, then without another thought, taking off the tank top she was wearing.

She could feel Tony's eyes on her as she fidgeted with the strapless bra she'd been wearing since last night. "You know how annoying it is to wear a bra 24 hours straight…" She paused, looking over at him. "Don't answer that…and stop looking at me, you'll wreck."

He let out an uncomfortable laugh then turned back to the road. She pulled the halter top on, then began fighting with Abby's, pants. She pulled her new skirt from the bag, sliding it up over her hips.

"How many tattoos do you have exactly?"

Bella grinned. "Not exactly sure why?" She slid her feet into the heels she had just bought, crossing her legs, showing off another tattoo on her ankle and upper thigh.

"Well, the ones on your arm are pretty visible, so are the ones on your legs, but I didn't notice the one on your side until you took your shirt off, what does it say?"

She smiled looking at him. "If I wanted you to know I would have pointed it out to you."

He sent her another look, then focused on the road. When they finally made it to the bar, it appeared the only person was the bartender.

"I'm sorry we don't open until seven, you can come back then." He said as he was loading some new bottles into the refrigerators under the counter.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, I need to ask you some questions about last night."

"Oh, well sure Agent what do you need?" He asked, standing up straight.

"Is there any chance you recognize me?" Bella asked, bringing both of the men's attention to her.

The bartender sent her a grin. "Of course, how could I forget you?" He bent down pulling a set of keys from a plastic box, handing them to Bella. "You were so drunk last night I didn't want to chance you getting in a wreck so I took these…"

Bella looked at the keys, memories flooding in. "My rental car…" Then something came back to her. "Wait, I asked you guys to hold my luggage, I was scared someone would break into my car for it…do you still have it?"

He shook his head. "No…your boy friend picked it up earlier today…"

"My boy friend?" She asked in shock. "Well what did he look like?"

"Tall, black hair, green eyes, I wouldn't have given it to him but he had all your information, new your full name and address which is what you'd given me last night to make sure the wrong person didn't take it…"

"He has your purse, hence he has your I.D." Tony spoke up, looking at the small blonde next to him.

"Bastard…"

The bartender was confused. "Was he not your boyfriend?"

Tony just sent him a look. "Can we have your security footage from last night?"

"Sure, the only cameras we have are in the front by the door and in the alley where we get our deliveries."

"That's where I left last night."

The bartender left the room, walking towards the back office. Bella looked up at Tony, her face full of anger. "Those stupid bastards have my clothes, its one thing to hit me over the head and steal my purse, but to take my clothes…it's totally war now."

"Here you go…are we going to be getting these back?" He asked as he handed Tony the tapes.

"No don't count on it."

He put them in a bag, then headed towards the back door. Bella followed close behind him. Once they were outside he handed her a pair of gloves. "Take these, everything is evidence."

She nodded sliding them onto her small hands. The both began looking around the small alley. Tony came across a small puddle of blood, which probably belonged to Bella, but he swabbed it just in case, out of no where he heard a loud gasp.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked as he walked over to where she was crouched down.

"It's my left shoe! The bastard probably dropped it, look the heel is broken and it's all scuffed up!"

Tony rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, its just a shoe."

She turned her head, sending him a glare. "It is not just a shoe when you spend close to four hundred dollars on it, it becomes much more important…besides, look how cute they were!"

He bent down and picked it up, dropping it into another bag, sealing it sending her another look.

"Well now they're four hundred dollar evidence."

"That's just cold agent."

"That's life."

Bella sighed, looking at her shoe in his bag. "My heart is breaking."

Tony shook his head. "A guy hits you over your head, steals your purse, and you're heart is just now breaking when you realize the shoes are ruined?"

"Yes…"

"That's crazy…"

Bella stood up from her crouched position. "No, that's a girl."

He shook his head, turning his attention back to the blood puddle, next to it was what appeared to be a broken bottle, as he bent closer to it, and he noticed blood. He put it in another one of the bags.

"Oh hey look, that's mine…" She said with a giggle as she pointed at the blood.

"What exactly is it about blood that excites you?"

She sent him her best innocent smile, cocking her head to the side, her now dry, blonde, curls falling in front of her face slightly. "The pain that usually comes with it."

He shook his head, standing back up, still looking at her. "Very, very strange…"

She smiled again, taking another step towards him. "Come on agent, you know the feeling." She took one step closer, less than an inch apart; she put her hand on his stomach. "Sex just isn't as good with a little pain…"

Tony swallowed hard. "Just how much is a little?"

She shook her hair out behind her, sending him another smile. "I'd be happy to give you a demonstration."

It took everything she had not to laugh at his expression. She curled the hand that was on his stomach into a fist, still smiling, she stepped out around him and began heading to the front of the building. She noticed he wasn't following her, when she turned around he was still in the same spot she'd left him in.

"Venez-vous l'agent?"

He sent her a confused look. "What?"

She giggled a bit. "I said, are you coming?"

He sighed; shaking his head, then began to walk towards her. She waited till he was next to her to begin walking.

She settled into his car, a smirk still playing on her lips, it was very obvious to her that he wasn't used to being around girls that did things like she just did. She couldn't help but laugh at the idea.

"What? What's so funny?"

Bella continued to laugh, stopping only long enough to answer. "You, your reaction was priceless."

He shook his head, no one spoke, the only sound was Bella snickering every once and a while, finally Tony spoke.

"So was what Abby said about you true?"

She looked over at him in confusion. "What did she say?"

He sighed, unsure if his question would offend her or not. "That you would make out with anyone willing?"

"Why do you want to know?"

He quickly looked over at her, then turning back to the road, trying to figure out if he offended her. "I…well I was just wondering if it was all an act or not."

"An act?"

"Yea, you know, trying to get attention…"

"I learned very quickly in life that if you act brave, people won't take the time to dig deeper, won't take the time to learn the truth.

"What's the truth?"

She sighed. "You're digging to deep now agent…"

He turned to look at her again; she had turned away from him, very intent on the buildings rushing by her. "I didn't mean to, I'm just curious."

"I really don't like talking about it."

"I didn't want to offend you or anything."

She sighed again, turning to look at him. "You didn't but let me put it this way, I've never kissed anyone but someone I was serious about…" She took a deep breath, looking away from him. "And I've only been serious about a few people; I was never the kind of girl to sleep around."

"You just make people think you do?"

"It's a defense mechanism."

He shook his head. "Well I don't get it."

Bella laughed. "You don't have to, but Abby does…maybe she'll explain it to you."

"I doubt Abby will tell me anything about you."

She sent him a weird look. "Why do you say that?"

"I dunno, the fact that she nearly knocked me over when she felt I was too forward with you." He responded, sending her a pointed look.

"She's a bit protective of me…" Bella took a deep breath, then looked back at him. "Everyone seems to be, it's like I'm a frickin' porcelain doll or something, everyone's waiting for me to break."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Must you be so nosy?"

He laughed. "Well I am an investigator."

She sent him another look. "Let's just say, my father is an asshole, and the spots for my tattoos were chosen to hide things…"

He looked over at her again. "What did he do to you?"

She didn't speak, just sunk down into her seat, looking out the window, ignoring his question.


	4. My Alcoholic Friends

Usual Disclaimers Apply

I'm taking back the number of the beast  
cause 6 is not a pretty number  
8 or 3 are definitely better  
a is for the address on the letter  
to my alcoholic friends

I'm trying hard  
not to be ashamed  
not to know the name  
of who is waking up beside me  
or the date, the season or the city  
but at least the ceilings very pretty  
and if you are holding it against me

I'll be on my best behavior  
taking shots for mother nature  
once my fist is in the cupboard  
love is never falling over  
-My Alcoholic Friends by The Dresden Dolls-

"Bells, bad news, your 'little friend' isn't in the system…how'd it go at the club?" Abby practically bombarded the two as they snuck back into the lab.

Bella sighed. "The bastard knocked me out, stole my clothes, and destroyed my shoes…but at least we got a video."

"Your friend is a bit obsessed over her shoes." Tony mumbled, putting the bags down on one of the tables, still a bit uneasy from Bella's cryptic confession in the car.

Abby laughed and Bella pulled the shoe from the bag, holding it above her as if it was the Holy Grail.

"Wait, what are you doing? That's evidence are you nuts?" McGee yelled watching the blonde holding the shoe.

"Have some respect for the deceased agent!" Bella yelled back, glaring at him. She turned her attention back to the shoe in her hands. "Dearly beloved…and agents who I really don't know, we've gathered here today in the sight of God, Budda, and Ozzy."

Tony leaned over to Abby. "Ozzy?"

"Well he was a rock God."

She cleared her throat, sending glares in their direction. "To mourn the loss of Fitzke Aldo Peep Toe Shoe, I remember the first day we met, it was in a Baton Rouge Mall, I was walking by, minding my own business, then out of the corner of my eye, there was Fitzke, the moment my eyes fell on their red leather and 2.5 inch heel, I knew we were meant to be."

"For the love of God!" McGee exclaimed.

Bella continued, ignoring McGee. "We had a good run together, they stayed with me during those drunken nights on Bourbon, dancing on the bar at the Coyote Ugly, and the often kicking of men's testicular regions when they got to close."

McGee winced. "Ouch." Tony muttered.

"Now if we could please have a moment of silence to honor their short life…" Bella bowed her head.

Then the lab door opened, Ziva looked at the sight before her in confusion. "Who is that?"

Bella responded without lifting her head. "I said a moment of silence!"

Ziva was taken aback, Tony just shook his head, Abby put her finger to her lips, silently telling Ziva to stay quiet.

Bella then set the shoe back on the table, taking a step back, looking over at Abby with complete seriousness. "Alright, the funeral is over."

"Is this some American custom that I won't understand?" Ziva asked, looking at the stranger.

"Don't feel bad Ziva, I don't even understand it…" McGee responded with a sigh.

"Who is this? What is going on?" She asked, looking between the four.

"This is my best friend, Bella, Bella this is Special Agent Ziva." Abby put her hand over Bella's shoulders.

"Is she going to rat me out to the boss man?" Bella asked looking up at her taller friend.

"Wait, Gibbs doesn't know she's down here?" Ziva asked, sending a look to Tony and McGee.

McGee didn't speak, but Tony stepped forward. "We're just running a little investigation without Gibbs knowing that's all…nothing to get concerned over."

"So Gibbs doesn't know?"

"Right, boss man doesn't know." Bella responded with a smile. "Are you going to let him know? Cause if you do let me know, cause I'll need to get out of here."

"What are you investigating?"

Abby sighed and answered her question. "Bella was attacked and robbed at a club last night, they knocked her out, stole her purse, and destroyed her shoes."

"And they went all Edward Cullen on my neck." Bella responded pointing to her neck.

"And you don't want to tell Gibbs why?"

"Because he might make us turn the case over to the cops…" Abby responded, pouting as she spoke.

Ziva shook her head. "I'm telling Gibbs…" She turned and began to walk back to the door, Tony quickly walked to stand in front of her, shutting the door to the lab. "Tony move."

"Think about it Ziva, it could be fun."

"Fun? You do realize if Gibbs finds out, we're all in serious trouble."

Tony's eyes shifted to Bella and Abby, then turned back to Ziva. "If you were in Bella's position, who would you trust more, the local cops, or Abby?"

Ziva let out a deep breath. "I'm not used to you making sense Tony."

"It's one of my charms."

"So what do we have so far?" Ziva asked, looking over Tony's shoulder, making eye contact with Abby.

Abby smiled. "Nice to have to on team…we have some new evidence from the alley way, and the video tapes, but so far, that's really it, we found a black hair, but there was no match for the DNA."

"Maybe it's a copy cat." Ziva added as Tony smirked and walked back to his previous position.

"Copy cat of what?" McGee asked.

"This Edward Cullen guy, is it the same MO?"

Everyone, excluding Ziva, busted out laughing, Abby was literally having to hold Bella up, her small frame was bent over, arms crossed across her stomach.

"Am I missing something?"

Bella stood up straight, looking at Ziva. "You're kidding right?"

"Ziva, Edward Cullen is a fictional vampire, from a book called Twilight." McGee responded, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Is he the one played by that British guy that all the girls are crazy for?"

"Whoa, good job Ziva, boning up on your pop culture?" Abby asked, nodding approval.

"I try Abby…" She responded sarcastically.

Tony smiled, pushing himself from his post against a table. "Well, lets take a look at these tapes."

Abby nodded, pulling one of the tapes from the bag and putting it into the player. They waited until they saw Bella's familiar figure.

"Oh wait that's him right there! Next to me dancing!"

Abby leaned her head to the side, staring at the screen. "Wow Bell's, you're boobs looked fantastic last night!"

"I know right!" Bella exclaimed in response.

McGee shook his head and Tony laughed. Ziva leaned closer to the screen. "Abby can you freeze it there?"

She froze the picture and they all looked, then Abby realized what Ziva was seeing, she zoomed in on the man, seeing that his face was perfectly clear.

"Wow, he's really good looking…" Abby said with a nod.

"Yea, he was a very pretty boy, very fun to look at…"

McGee shook his head again. "Boy's aren't pretty."

Bella turned her attention to him. "Seriously? Have you looked at your partner here?" She asked, waving her hand in Tony's direction. "He's fun to look at."

Tony smirked again at the compliment, Ziva rolled her eyes and McGee responded. "No, I can honestly say I've never noticed."

Abby scowled shaking her head. "I'm going to run his picture through the local DMV see if anything will come up."


	5. Love Game

Usual Disclaimers Apply

A/n: Chapter is dedicated to Tobie, I feel like a proud mother, she is finally wearing dresses by her choice! Haha, welcome to the wonderful world of being girly my friend :)

I'm on a mission And it involves some heavy touching,yeah  
You've indicated you're interest I'm educated in sex, yes  
Now I want it bad, want it bad A love game, a love game  
Hold me and love me  
Just want touch you for a minute  
Maybe three seconds is enough For my heart to quit it  
-Love Game Lady Gaga-

Tony sat behind his desk, staring at the computer screen before him, it was dark outside, most of the other agents had gone home, but he was too busy to notice.

"What are you looking at?" He heard Ziva's voice as she stepped closer to him, holding a cup of coffee.

His head turned up to look at her from the computer screen. "You come up from the lab?"

She nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Bella started singing some song about a sweet transsexual or something I figured I better leave…"

"Sweet Transvestite, it's from Rocky Horror Picture Show, honestly Ziva you at least should watch that one…"

Ziva walked behind his desk, looking over his shoulder at the computer screen. Pictures of a girl covered in bruises littered the screen, her face hardly recognizable from the swelling. As Ziva leaned closer she saw the victims name on the top of the case file

"Oh my God is that…"

"Yea." Tony cut her off, looking away from the pictures on the screen. "Apparently it wasn't the first time either…"

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, exiting out of the pictures, disgusted. "She was eighteen when those pictures were taken, if you read further on in the medical report, there were signs of previous broken bones, there is a scar on her side that she told the cops was from being thrown against the edge of a marble counter…"

"What made her come to the cops?"

He sighed. "Abby."

Back in the lab, Bella was sitting on one of the steel tables, watching her friend work, the black pigtails on the side of her head bouncing as she moved. Bella swung her legs back and forth, bored.

The lab door open, Tony made his way in, giving a quick glance to Bella, but she didn't notice. "Anything come up from the picture?"

Abby shook her head, looking longingly at the computer. "Not yet, still scanning."

Silence followed; all tired from such a long day, Abby was the only one with any ounce of energy left, due to the Caf-Pow she was currently drinking. They all stared at expectantly at the computer screen, the lab door opened, McGee and Ziva made there way in, watching the screen as well.

Bella yawned. "Am I the only one who is tired?"

"No," Tony added. "I'm tired too."

"Why don't we go home for the night, and continue this in the morning?" Ziva asked, looking from the screen to the rest of the group.

Abby shook her head. "I'm not going home, I'm going to process some of the other evidence Tony brought in, I'll just sleep here…Bella you can go to my apartment."

Bella shot her a funny look. "And sleep in the coffin! No thank you! You know I'm terrified of those!"

Abby sighed. "Well then sleep on my couch."

"Yea, I did that last time I was up here and got such a back ache that I couldn't walk the next day, your couch us uncomfortable."

"Well what were you going to do in the first place?" McGee asked giving her a confused look.

"Well if you must know agent I was going to stay in a hotel, but since these assholes took my wallet I can't do that!"

"Oh…" Was all McGee said in response.

"My couch is pretty comfortable…" Tony added in.

"No, McGee's is much more comfortable! Besides, McGee lives much closer, you wont have to wake up as early as Tony does to get here…" Abby added in quickly sending Tony a glare.

"Wait, don't you think Bella would be more comfortable Ziva? I mean she hardly knows me, and with Ziva being a girl and all…" McGee quickly responded, sending a look to Ziva.

"What…Wait how did I get chained into this?" Ziva asked sending Abby and McGee both a confused look.

"Well, now we know what Ziva does on the weekends…" Tony added with a smirk. "The correct phrase is 'roped into this'."

"See, it's comments like that, that make me feel more comfortable knowing Bella is sleeping on McGee's couch."

Bella cleared her throat, turning to look up at Tony. "Well then agent, your couch it is…"

Abby pouted, giving Bella a look. "I feel like my daughter is spending the night at the captain of the football team's house…"

"Actually it was basket ball…" Tony responded with a smile.

Bella grinned. "See Abby," she stood on her tip toes giving her a peck on the cheek. "It's all good."

It was a lot easier to sneak out of the building at night, by the time they got to the car Tony was yawning even more.

"You're not going to fall asleep at the wheel right?"

Tony laughed. "If I do I'm sure your screaming will wake me up."

Bella rolled her eyes as she buckled up, she mocked the sign of the cross across her shoulders and bowed her head, only making Tony laugh more.

When they finally made it to his apartment, it took Bella everything she had to make it to the elevator, then down the hall. When she stepped inside she wasn't surprised to see the mess before her.

She sent him a look, he glared. "Shut up, I'm a busy person…the couch is over here." He stepped further in and she followed, still amused by his messiness.

He sighed. "Let me just throw these on the coffee table…" He picked up some magazines and mail, throwing them on an already large pile of stuff.

"Coffee table? You have a coffee table?"

"Yes," he responded, giving her a weird look. "What's you're point?"

She looked at the large pile. "Oh nothing, I didn't realize that was a coffee table, I thought you had simply forgot to dispose of a body…"

"Yea, well Abby's coffin was taken."

She laughed. "Good point."

He sighed, standing there, a bit awkwardly. "So, do you need a shirt to sleep in or something?"

"That would be great, I could finally take this damn bra off."

He stood there for a second, a visual stuck in his head of Bella running around his apartment braless. He shook his head, forgetting the image before he got himself into trouble. "Let me go get you that shirt…"

She smiled, falling back onto the couch haphazardly. Several minutes passed, when he reappeared he was holding a black button down. She took it from him, standing back up. "Bathroom?"

He pointed the way. "You know I could give you a pair of shorts if you would feel more comfortable."

She grinned as she was shutting the bathroom door. "No, my underwear is just fine."


	6. Kiwi

You're such a flirt, I know you hurt  
And so do I, I empathize  
I see you out, you never cared  
A conversation that we never shared

But it's so strange, it's something new  
Amazing feelings that I have for you  
I close my eyes when I'm alone  
Wonder what it'd be like to make you moan

I wanna give you something better  
Than anything you've ever had  
A stronger and a faster lover  
The world, it disappears so fast

Sweet kiwi  
Your juices dripping down my chin  
So please, let me  
Don't stop it before it begins  
-Kiwi by Maroon 5-

When Tony awoke the next morning, it wasn't due to his alarm going off, the sound of his shower running and the steam coming from under the bathroom door made him think back hard on what exactly happened the night before. He was drawing a blank. Throwing back the covers he slid out of bed, making his way towards the bathroom. He put his hand on the door knob, slowly turning it to test if it was locked. It turned smoothly, he pushed it open and stepped in, eyes focused on the shower. Then he remembered.

Bella had spent the night.

"Shit..." He mumbled, turning and heading towards the door, before he could exit, he heard the shower curtain move.

"Morning agent!" Bella's head was sticking out from behind the curtain, sending him a bright smile.

"Erm...Morning Bella..." He responded, still trying to make his way to the door, the last thing he needed was for Abby to hear he'd been in the same room as Bella was when she was nude.

"I'll be out in a second..."

He just nodded, shutting the door behind him, way to many dirty images going through his head, what did she look like behind that curtain?

"Dammit!" He practically yelled, pushing off the door and walking back to his bed, he fell onto it, Abby would absolutely kill him. He closed his eyes, lying on his pillow, trying to think of anything but what was in his bathroom.

A few minutes later, the door opened, he opened one eye slightly, Bella stepped out wearing his black button down shirt and no pants. Her blond hair was sticking to her shoulders. She sent him a smile and seemed to skip out the room. He couldn't help but wonder if she had any idea what she was doing to him, but knowing Bella, she knew exactly what she was doing to him, and she was enjoying every second of it.

"That bitch.."He grumbled before stumbling to the bathroom. After an extra long shower, Tony made his way out into the living room, stopping at the couch, looking at the once dirty room. "Bella?!"

She walked out of the kitchen, sending him a questioning look. "Yes?"

"What happened to all my junk?"

"I couldn't sleep..."

"That doesn't really answer my question..." He responded, crossing his arms.

"I couldn't sleep, so I cleaned up some. Don't worry I didn't throw anything away."

He took a deep breath, just staring at her, then he smelt something burning. "Are you cooking?"

"Shit!" She ran back into the kitchen, Tony following close behind. She poured the bacon from the pan onto a plate. "See what you made me do?"

He laughed."Don't blame your domestic failure on me..." He quipped, grabbing a piece of the burnt bacon and shoving it in his mouth.

"It is not a domestic failure, it's called being distracted by a guy." She responded with a glare, grabbing some of the uncooked pork and throwing it onto the pan.

"Oh so I'm distracting you, I'm sorry..."

She sent him another glare."Don't read to much into it, I wasn't meaning it in the way you're taking it."

He smirked. "Yes but yesterday you said I was pretty fun to look at ."

She looked up at him, then quickly back to the bacon. "I was suffering from blood loss, I didn't know what I was saying."

He pointed a finger at her, shaking his head. "Oh no! No take backs!"

She grimaced. "Dammit!" He laughed, taking more burnt bacon. "You know if you wait, I'll have some decently cooked ones for you."

He shrugged, he didn't mind the burnt bacon as long as he could continue to stare at her, there was just something unbelievably sexy about a woman wearing his shirt. He sighed, realizing his mind was getting away with him again, he quickly turned and walked to the other side of the kitchen, as far from Bella as he could. He began to fight with the coffee maker, trying to get his mind out of the gutter.

"Do you drink coffee?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Do you breathe?"

He laughed. "Yea I thought so..."

Back at NCIS, Abby was beside herself, pacing back and forth, mumbling things to herself. "Maybe, Bella just slept late....What am I saying? Come on Abby you know better than that, Bella doesn't sleep...Well Tony could have slept late, I mean, that is very Tony like...But they are in the middle of a case, I don't think Tony would be foolish enough to not set his alarm, Gibbs would kill him...Maybe Bella is just taking a really long shower....with Tony...Dammit!"

"Problems Abby?"

The tall scientist jumped at the sound of Ziva's voice. She turned, taking a deep breath. "Tony and Bella are late..."

"So..."

"So? It's Tony...and Bella....Dammit!"

Ziva sent her another confused look. "So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting they..."

Bella's voice cut Ziva off. "Did the horizontal tango?"

Abby looked towards the door, Tony was shutting it behind them, laughing from Bella's comment. "Don't worry Abby, whatever is left of my innocence is safe...the big bad wolf didn't get me..."

Abby sent Tony a look, he put up his hand in defence. "Like she said, nothing happened, I was the perfect gentleman!"

"I'd have to see that to believe it..." Ziva quipped.

"Hey! I never once got out of line...did I Bella?"

Bella smiled. "Nope, not once...perfect gentleman"

"Thank you." He smiled at her.

"Except for him constantly undressing me with his eyes...perfect gentleman..." Bella added with a smirk.

Abby smacked him, he sent Bella a glare, all she and Ziva could do was laugh. "Why were you late? I was worried sick!"

Bella laughed. "Sorry, I was making breakfast...and he ate it as I made it, so he basically ate everything I made. We had to stop at McDonalds on the way here to get me something."

"Pig." Ziva added.

Bella nodded. "Seriously, I wanted to hit him with the frying pan."

"You should have," Ziva grinned. "It might have knocked some sense into him."

"Excuse me for being hungry." Tony responded angrily, he sighed. "How pissed is Gibbs at me?"

"Pretty upset, he kept telling me to call you. You might want to go up there."

Tony just grunted, then turned and walked out the lab doors, Ziva sent Abby and Bella one last smile before heading out behind him. Once the door shut, Abby turned back to the work she was supposed to be doing for Gibbs. Bella sighed and walked over to the table she had occupied the day before, she knew Abby was pissed.

"So are you going to tell me why you're angry? Or should I guess?" Abby didn't reply, she just continued to work on one of her computers. Bella sighed. "I guess I'll start guessing then, I wonder what it could be. Is the the hole in the Ozone Layer? No, that couldn't be it, could it be the slow loss of habitat for several different creatures?" Abby still didn't even look in her direction. "I know! Could it be that I'm wearing his clothes?" Abby visibly stiffened, Bella rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you're that pissed over clothes?" Abby continued to ignore her, so she began to pull her arm from he sleeve of Tony's T shirt and pulled it off, tossing it to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Abby yelled when she realized her friend was now half naked.

"Well obviously me being in his clothes bothers you, so I was taking them off, seriously, make up your mind, what would you rather? Off or on?"

"On, definitely on, it's one thing for Gibbs to come down here and find you clothed, but naked would be so much worse."

"So why are you so bothered by this? I have worn the clothes of our guy friends all the time, I think I wore Nathan's clothes more than my own."

Abby couldn't help but smile at the mention of their old friend, but the smile soon faded when she remembered the topic. "It's different, it's Tony."

"How does that make it any different?"

"Well for one thing, Tony is not your friend, you don't know Tony...I don't think I've ever actually heard you call him by his first name, and....it's Tony."

Bella slid off the table, grabbing the T shirt off the floor and slipping it back on. "You keep saying that like he's a bad guy, as far as I can tell, he's a damn good one."

Abby quickly shook her head. "No, I love Tony, I'm not saying he's bad, it's just, if you two did something it would be completely awkward, cause you're bad at that..."

"Excuse me? Who told you I was bad at sex?!"

Abby couldn't help but burst into giggles. "No you dummy, I'm not saying your bad at sex, I've never heard any reviews on that. I'm saying you're bad with people, you like to pretend you can handle relationships, but Bella, you really can't."

"Yes I can..."

"Name one relationship that didn't end because he said 'you were to distant'?"

Bella opened her mouth to respond, then stopped to think for a second. "OK, none, but that doesn't mean I'm bad at relationships, and besides, nothing like that is going on between him and I, he's just kinda fun, I doubt that has even crossed his mind, it's all a big joke."

Abby turned back to her computer, amazed by her friends naivety. "Trust me Bells, it's crossed his mind."

Bella's face scrunched in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

Abby sighed, shaking her head. "Because, it's Tony."


	7. The Shores Of California

And she's been trying with limited success  
To get him to turn out the lights and dance  
Cause like any girl all she really wants  
That fickle little bitch romance  
That fickle little bitch romance

And that is why a girl is called a tease  
And that is why a guy is called a sleaze  
And that's why god made escort agencies  
One life to live and mace and GHB

And that's the way it is in Minnesota  
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma  
That's the way since the animals and noah  
First climbed onto the shores of California  
-Shores Of California by The Dresden Dolls-

Tony fell back into his chair with a sigh, he couldn't remember the last time Gibbs had been so angry at him. He ran his hand over the back of his head, you would think after this long, he would be used to getting smacked in the head, but it still hurt. Gibbs sent him another look as he walked past his desk towards the elevators, Ziva following close behind. Tony waited for the doors to shut, then quickly grabbed his phone, sending Abby a warning to hide Bella.

"So what happened last night?" Tony turned to look at McGee who was sitting behind his desk, waiting patiently for Tony's answer.

"I took her home, I went to sleep, she cleaned my apartment, she made breakfast, we came here..." He responded in monotone voice, turning his attention to his computer.

"She cleaned your apartment? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know McGee, she said it was because she couldn't sleep."

"Strange..."

Down in the lab, Bella was sitting in the corner of the supply closet, waiting patiently for the agent to leave. She was very lucky not to be claustrophobic or scared of the dark, she'd been in that closet way to many times already. She could hear Abby talking nervously with Gibbs and Ziva, trying to answer all his questions so he would leave, but trying not to be too obvious about it. She could hear their footsteps around the lab, every time one of their feet would stop right outside of the closet her heart would stop. She kept having visions of Gibbs pulling open the door and catching her. The last thing she wanted was to get her best friend in trouble, and now that the other three were involved, it was all the more important for her to stay quiet and locked away.

Abby shifted nervously from foot to foot, eyes focused on the black computer screen in the corner that had been running the search for Bella's mystery man. She'd turned off the screen, in hopes Gibbs wouldn't notice.

"Is there something wrong with you Abby?" Gibbs finally asked after several minutes of silence.

"No, no what would make you think that?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that..." Gibbs stopped when he heard a beep coming from the blank computer screen. "What was that?"

Abby quickly looked at him. "Nothing, nothing, I'm just running a few diagnostics on the computer, it probably just finished thats all." Gibbs sent her a look, she bit her lip, then gave him her best smile. "I'll check it in a second..." He just nodded and turned to walk towards the door. "I'll call you as soon as I get something I promise!" Abby yelled, waiting patiently for the door to shut behind him. She then quickly ran to the computer, turning on the screen.

"We found him! We found him!" Abby yelled in excitement, jumping up and down. Before she knew it Bella had flown out of the closet and was jumping up and down next to her.

Bella looked at the screen closely. "Justin Gray, yea that's him."

Abby sighed. "Why do the cute ones always have to be nuts?"

"Story of my life I'm afraid..." Bella responded with a smile. The lab door opened and Bella quickly ran to hide behind the table, but when she heard the laughter she knew she was safe. She stood back up and sent him a glare. "You could have announced yourself you know."

Tony just sent her his brightest smile. "And miss out on seeing you duck and cover? Not a chance."

"We found him Tony!" Abby replied smiling, pointing to the computer screen. Tony walked over, staring at the picture on the screen, then he took out his phone and added the address.

"Alright, I think McGee and I should go out there." He turned and started walking towards the door, Bella grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I'm going with..."

He shook his head. "There is no way in hell you're coming."

"I'm coming whether you like it or not." She replied, crossing her arms.

"You better let her go with you Tony, one time my mother and I found her hiding in our trunk cause we told her she couldn't come with us..." Abby added with a nod and a smile.

"See you really have no choice." Bella grinned.

Tony sighed and was about to reply when his phone vibrated. "Hello? Yea, I'll be right there..." He hung up looking at the two women. "Looks like we wont be able to go till tomorrow, McGee just located our suspect, I have to go try and pick him up."

"But I am going to come with you when we go..."

He sent her another look before leaving. "We'll talk about it tonight."

"Funny, everytime a guy has said that to me, it usually ends up with me giving him head and getting my way..." Tony just shook his head, he knew any reply would only anger Abby. When the lab door shut behind him, Bella sent a big grin towards Abby. "I love doing that, especially to him."

Abby shook her head. "Yea, but it's gotten you in trouble before remember?"

"Once...okay maybe twice, I can't help it, it's fun."

Abby laughed. "Your 'sexual humor' has gotten you into trouble more than two times, I remember a certain sexual harassment complaint..."

Bella glared. "Allegedly! Allegedly I said something about having sex in the store room! It was never proven!"

"Everyone knew it was true..."

"Funny enough I kept my job!"

Abby snorted a laugh. "Only cause your boss had a major crush on you."

Bella grinned. "Hey, it's not my fault I'm completely irresistible." She jumped up to sit on the table, swinging her legs like a little kid.

Abby laughed again. "Yea, that confidence thing, we really need to work on building it up."

The rest of the day seemed to creep by for Bella, it felt as if she had spent the majority of it in the closet, curled up in the corner waiting for Gibbs to leave. Ziva was nice enought to bring down some food for her, it seemed as if Tony was avoiding the lab as much as possible, which Abby could tell bothered Bella.

"Bells, I'm sure they're going to be leaving soon, why don't you go ahead and sneak out." Abby asked, sitting on the table next to her friend.

Bella sighed, leaning into Abby. "Alright, I guess I'll just wait out by his car or something." She gave Abby a kiss on the cheek, Abby just smiled at her. "Night Abbs."

Bella pushed open the door to the stairs, only to hear voices coming from inside. "Dammit..." She swore, looking around. She could always use the elevator, maybe no one will pay attention that she didn't have a pass. She touched the button, tapping her foot rather impatiently. When the doors opened to the empty elevator she said a silent prayer that maybe no one will get on with her.

At the next stop, the doors opened and Bella swore under her breath. A tall, grey haired man stepped in, she recognized him from a picture Abby had showed her. It was Gibbs. He walked in to stand next to her, not giving her a second glance.

After several seconds of silence, Gibbs spoke. "So, how is the investigation going?"

Bella was stunned, she turned to look at the man, mouth hanging open, she stuttered a response. "Gr...great."

He nodded, still never looking over at her. "How's the neck?"

Bella put her hand up to the bite mark on her neck. "Fine..."

"Do me a favor," He looked over at her, with a smirk on his face. "Don't tell them I know." The elevator doors opened at Gibbs' stop, he stepped out, then turned around to give her another smirk.

"Of course..."

The doors shut and Bella leaned back against the wall, Abby was right, Gibbs is magic.


	8. For Your Entertainment

Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet  
'Ya fallen angel swept ya off ya feet  
Well I'm about to turn up the heat  
I'm here for your entertainment

It's alright  
You'll be fine  
Baby, I'm in control  
Take the pain  
Take the pleasure  
I'm the master of both  
Close your eyes  
Not your mind  
Let me into your soul  
I'ma work ya 'til your totally blown  
-For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert-

"Long time no see agent." Bella said with a smirk, sitting on the hood of his car.

"It's been a long day Bella, get in the car and let's go."

'Oh, alright Mr. Grumpy Gills." She responded, jumping off the hood and walking to her side of the car.

"Not funny." He muttered, getting in the drivers seat. Bella just laughed, looking over at him, she could tell he was tired, she could see it in his eyes, his lips set in a frown as he focused on the road. "Stop staring at me Bella."

She squinted at him. "What's got you so uptight?"

"I'm just tired..." He replied, gripping tightly on the wheel, he could feel her blue eyes staring at him. He turned to look at her. "What?"

"I don't believe you." She was still squinting at him, waiting for him to answer.

He just shook his head, after several moments of silence, he heard Bella sigh, she turned back to look out of the window. "How exactly did you and Abby meet?"

Bella smiled at the memory. "Middle school, sixth grade, some guy was picking on her for being tall, Abby was always the tall girl, and at that age she was very sensative about it. I was the short girl that everyone was scared of, I was always bruised up from..." She stopped, trying to think of a way to cover up her slip. Tony looked over at her expectantly, she smirked. "Well I was a very rough girl, people saw the bruises and assumed I was in fights a lot..."

"Assumed?"

"Okay maybe I told them I was." She replied with a sly smile. "It ticked me off that this little prick was picking on her, we'd never spoken or anything, but I'd never seen her do anything to anyone. I'm not exactly sure what I said to him, I just remember making him cry..."

Tony laughed. "What you said was that mean?"

She shook her head. "No I kneed him in the nuts."

Her response only made him laugh harder, it was becoming very obvious to him it's quite difficult to stay in a bad mood around her, she was much like Abby, one of those personalities that put a person in a good mood. "So you've been friends ever since?"

Bella nodded. "Pretty much, we went through high school together, dormed in college together, when she moved up here is the first time we've ever been separated."

"How is it we've never heard about you before? Or at least seen you? I'm sure you've visited..."

Bella shrugged. "Do you go into work chatting about your best friend agent?"

"Well no...but..."

Bella cut him off. "Then what makes Abby any different?"

Tony sent her a look as he parked the car. They didn't speak in the elevator, Bella leaned against the wall, her body suddenly tired. As soon as she walked through the door she fell, exhausted onto the couch. Tony walked past her towards his room. "Goodnight Bella."

"You too..." Was all he got back.

Her hair was falling in front of her face as she focused on the pan of food, Tony was leaning against the counter next to her, their conversation lacking, too much tension between them. His eyes kept running from her bare legs up to his black shirt that hug loosely from her small frame.

"I can feel your eyes on me Tony, stop it."

"I think that's the first time you actually called me by name."

She looked up at him, a small smile. "I think you're right."

He leaned forward, his face inches from hers. "Well I like it."

She stood on her tip toes, closing the space between them, one hand behind his head, the other pulling on his shirt, pulling his body closer. His hand found it's way into her hair, taking a fistful and tugging. She moaned as his lips made their way down her neck, his hands now working at unbuttoning the shirt she had on. Her hands were running under his shirt, over his chest. He picked up her small frame, setting her carefully onto the counter, her legs wrapped around his waist. He pushed the shirt off her shoulders and she began unbuttoning his.

"Agent..." Her voice was a soft whisper. "Agent." She said it again, just as soft. He continued to kiss down her body. Her holding onto his shoulders, running up into his hair. "Agent!"

Tony jumped, he would have fallen out of bed if Bella wouldn't have been straddling him. When he looked up and saw her over him he jumped again. "Dammit Bella what are you doing?!"

"I'm bored!" She whined.

"You're bored?!" He yelled, a bit aggravated she'd woken him from such a good dream, a bit embarrassed that the object of his dream was now on top of him.

"Yes I'm bored." She pouted. "Entertain me!"

He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed, she tumbled onto the bed next to him. "Seriously, how old are you?!"

She laughed. "A lady never tells her age..."

Tony grunted, after the dream he had just had, he was pretty certain a lady Bella was not. "Go back to bed Bella, I'm tired."

"I can't sleep, I need something to do, there is nothing on TV."

"Well then, go clean, that seemed to work for you last night."

She sighed. "There is nothing to clean, I cleaned everything last night." She leaned up, just noticing his bare chest. "Oh wow agent you have a nice chest."

He gaped at her, the way she said it was so nonchalant, this girl was unbelievable. "Get out Bella, go entertain yourself, I need sleep."

She pouted. "You're no fun."

He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, looking at the clock next to his bed. "Bella, it's 2 o'clock in the morning how do you expect me to entertain you?" He looked over at her, she was now laying on her back, looking at him with a grin.

"I dunno where is your porn stash?"

"I don't have a porn stash."

Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes you do, everyone has a porn stash...I have a porn stash."

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's nice to know...But I don't have a porn stash, I don't need a porn stash."

Bella laughed. "Oh listen to this, what? You're just such a sexpot you got girls always in your bed?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Well I got you in my bed right now don't I?"

"Touche'."

He sighed again, rubbing his eyes. "Seriously, I'm tired, could you go find something to do?"

"Come on agent, you do realize there is someone out there that wants me dead right? I mean he just left me in that alleyway hoping I would die, he could come back for me at any moment, I need to live each second like it's my last...I need to do something fun!"

"Ok for one, he doesn't know where you are, two I'm personally about to dump you in an alleyway, three I highly doubt you're the type to live your life any other way."

She sat up, glaring down at him. "Fine, maybe I'll just go stay at McGee's..."

Tony laughed. "Oh yea, he wouldn't let you past the door..."

"Damn...he does hate me doesn't he?"

"Not hate necessarily, you're just not his favorite person."

She smiled. "No, but Abby is."

Tony smirked. "Yea, she is."

She fell back onto her back next to him, her smile turning into a frown. "I've never had that."

He looked over at her. "Never had what?"

"Someone perfect for me like that, well I take that back, I might have, I just never gave them the chance to get close enough to me to find out."

"Why not?"

She sighed. "I have trust issues."

"You seem to trust Abby."

She laughed. "Only cause she made me. She was the only one who didn't leave me alone when I tried to shut them out."

He rolled over on his side to get a better look at her. "What do you mean?"

She answered, staring blankly at the ceiling. "I go through stages, the first stage, I'm fun to be around, never serious, only want to hang out and have a good time. The second stage starts when a person starts to show serious interest in me, asking me questions about myself, generally caring, I let them in a little bit, I tell them things, much like I'm doing with you now."

Tony studied her blank face carefully, her lips were set in a frown, her eyes set on the ceiling. "And whats the third stage?"

She sighed finally looking over at him. "I shut them out, push them out of my life completely, or do things to make them not want to be in my life anymore."

"Like what?"

"Horrible things." She replied, getting up out of the bed and walking towards the door.

"What kind of horrible things?"

"Go back to sleep..." She answered, shutting the door behind her.

Tony laid there, part of him wanted to get up and go try to make her answer his questions, the other part of him knew it would be better for both of them just not to ask.

When his alarm went off it took everything he had to get out of bed. After Bella woke him up it was very difficult to get back to sleep, partly because of the things she had said, mainly because he was scared he would finish that very vivid dream and he wouldn't be able to look Bella in the face after that. He took a quick shower then walked out into the living room, expecting to see Bella bouncing around the kitchen, either cooking or cleaning, but as soon as he stepped out of his room it was very obvious that Bella hadn't been there in some time. He looked around for a note, maybe she left one saying she was going up to the lab? But there wasn't one anywhere, for some reason he began to worry. Logically he knew she was more than likely up at the lab with Abby, but he couldn't help but worry. He grabbed his keys and quickly ran out the door.

Bella turned Abby's music up even higher, she was all alone in the large lab, the scientist had ran out for some breakfast. Bella had showed up in the lab nearly two hours ago, Abby had never left, Bella found her napping on the futon. Abby didn't bother to asking why, she knew it would be pointless to, Bella never gave information willingly.

Bella heard the door open, she turned, expecting it to be Abby. "That was quick Abbs..." She stopped when she saw who it was. "Oh, good morning."

Tony crossed his arms, staring down at her. "You could have at least told me you were leaving."

"I didn't think it mattered when or where I went..." She replied, scoffing at his comment.

"How did you get up here anyway?"

"I hitchhiked..." He narrowed his eyes at her and she sighed. "I called a taxi, seriously, I'm not that stupid."

"Well it wasn't exactly calming to wake up and find out you were gone."

"I'm not a child, you don't have to babysit." She replied, her blue eyes showed how comical she found the situation.

"I know that, I was a bit worried."

When he said that, her eyes went blank. "Don't be."

"Alright I got a bunch of different things, I know how you like a variety..." Abby stopped when she saw Tony. "Oh, good morning Tony."

He turned to look at her. "Morning Abby."

Abby grinned, sensing the tension. "So are you all gonna go check out that guys house today?"

Tony sighed, turning back to look at Bella, who had turned around and walked back to the stereo. "Yea, as soon as McGee gets here we'll go."

"I'm going." Bella said, looking back to him.

"No, you're not, you do realize how dangerous this could be?"

"You do realize I don't care? I'm going."

"Bella, I don't want to have to be worrying about you while I'm..."

Bella cut him off. "Like I've already said, don't worry about me."

He sighed, glaring. "Fine Bella, I'd love to have you come along."

"Glad to hear it agent." She replied, a cocky grin on her face.

Tony turned, storming out, Abby immediately sent Bella a knowing look. "Bella..."

Bella shook her head. "Don't Abby, just don't..."

Abby took a deep breath, this was going to be a very long day.


	9. From Yesterday

He's a stranger to some and a vision to none  
He can never get enough, get enough of the one  
For a fortune, he'd quit but it's hard to admit  
How it ends and begins on his face is a map of the world  
A map of the world, on his face is a map of the world  
A map of the world

From yesterday, it's coming  
From yesterday, the fear  
From yesterday, it calls him  
But he doesn't wanna read the message here  
-From Yesterday by 30 Seconds to Mars-

"Have I mentioned how stupid this is?" McGee groaned once again from the front seat.

"Only about twenty times now Agent…" Bella responded with a glare, shoving him from the back seat of Tony's car.

"Ouch, I'm out here, risking my career for you, the least you could do is be nice."

Bella smirked. "You're right Agent, how rude of me, is this better? " Bella spoke in a mocking tone. "My Agent McGee, what rippling muscles you have! I would be lost without you!"

McGee opened his mouth to respond, Tony cut him off. "Would the both of you just shut up?!" He practically yelled, looking at Bella in the rear view mirror. "If it was up to me, you would be in the lab with Abby, and McGee you would be the one keeping Gibbs busy, Ziva's not near this annoying!"

Bella continued smirking. "Why? Because she's hot?"

McGee stifled a laugh, Tony sent him a glare. "Shut up, it has nothing to do with her looks, she just doesn't bicker back and forth constantly!"

"Me and Bella bicker the way you and Ziva do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not!" Tony's voice raised an octave.

"What are you guys like ten?!" Bella yelled from the back seat. "Seriously!" She took a deep breath. "How about we all just shut up….That way this trip won't end with me using one of ya'll weapons on myself."

McGee turned to look at her. "Use them on yourself?"

Bella smiled. "I'm not a violent person Agent."

McGee turned back around to the front. Bella just continued to smirk looking out the window. Justin Gray's house was at the end of a very long road, on the outside of town. All Bella could think was if this guy put up a fight of some sort how long would it take for the ambulance to get there?

Tony kept watching her in the rearview mirror, he could see her chewing on her lip, something he'd noticed her doing when thinking hard.

They pulled up into the long drive way. The house was old, but kept in good condition. It's white siding cause the blue shutters and door stand out even more. Before getting out Tony turned, sticking his finger in Bella's face. "Stay in the car, do not get out you understand me?"

Bella smirked. "Either remove the finger or I will do it for you."

Tony dropped his hand, sending her a look. "And I thought you weren't a violent person."

"Only when pressed…"

He sighed. "Seriously Bella, just stay in the car."

She held up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine, I'll stay in the car…" She sighed then broke out into an enthusiastic smile. "I'll even lock the doors! So that when the bad vampire wanna-be who's obviously not home, comes to get me…I'll just sit in here and point and laugh."

Tony shook his head, there was just no winning with this girl. He opened the door and made a show of locking the door before shutting it. Bella in turn, flipped him off.

As they were walking up to the front door, McGee turned to him. "Quite a handful isn't she?"

Tony just sent him a look. "Try having her in your apartment."

McGee laughed as he knocked on the door. "Justin Gray, NCIS open up!"

After several minutes there was no answer, Tony looked around, the door was surrounded by a window, he sent McGee a smile, then picked up one of the large rocks in the garden, smashing through the window and unlocking the door.

The front room of the house was normal, messy, defiantly a bachelors home. As they walked farther into the house the normalcy started to fade.

"Tony, you won't believe this." McGee yelled from one of the many rooms.

"Oh my God."


	10. Joey

Were you sad  
Were you scared  
Did you wish for a prayer to be free  
Was it quiet and cold  
Was it light or too dark to see  
And did you reach for me

Joey I'm so sorry  
Ohh can you hear me?  
Joey I'm so sorry  
Oohhhohh can you hear me  
Joey I'm so...  
Joey I'm so sorry  
-Joey by Sugarland-

Tony stepped into the bedroom behind McGee and suddenly felt sick. The room was painted a dark grey, the dark wood flooring made the walls look even darker. In far side there was a open coffin, it's black plush looked recently slept in. Next to the coffin was a end table, a glass, half full of red liquid sat on it. Tony shuttered to think what was in it. McGee was draw to the pictures on the wall, each one a girl lying on the ground in her own blood, bite marks apparent on her neck.

"It looks like Bella wasn't his first time…" McGee turned to see Tony standing in front of one of the pictures, a mixture of anger and disgust on his face. As McGee got closer he could see why. It was Bella, lying on her side, one arm stretched out in front of her as if reaching for help, the other was bent up towards her face. Her blonde hair was sprawled out behind her, the teeth marks showed clearly on her neck.

"Is the liquid in the glass blood?" Tony asked without ever looking from the picture.

McGee nodded. "Don't even need to examine it to know that."

Tony took a deep breath. "This guy is insane."

McGee walked the other side of the room, pulling open the closet doors, inside was a large suitcase and a dark red purse thrown next to it. He bent down, opening the purse he found Bella's wallet. He turned back to Tony with a smirk. "Well she'll be happy to get this back."

Tony let out a small laugh. "Yea no more bitching about that at least."

They continued to search the room, Tony couldn't stop looking back at the picture of Bella on the wall. Then, breaking through the silence of their search a piercing scream came from outside. Both men ran through the house, guns out, unsure of what they would find when they got outside.

Tony rushed through the front door in front of McGee stopping with his gun raised. Justin had Bella pulled to him, arm around her throat, other hand holding a gun to her temple.

"NCIS drop your weapon!" He heard McGee yell, for some reason his voice wasn't working.

Justin only pulled Bella tighter to him, his eyes darting from agent to agent. Bella yelled. "Sure, stay in the car! Nothing could possibly happen in the car!"

"I don't think now is a good time to argue that Bella!" McGee replied.

"Just shoot him!" She yelled back.

Tony stepped forward trying to get better aim, as he did he saw Justin press the gun harder into her temple. Bella gasped. "Any closer and she's dead!"

"You can't do that Justin, you kill her in front of us, we kill you, then you couldn't take pictures of it, we saw your sick little collection in there…" Tony yelled, taking another step.

"I mean it! I'll kill her!"

"No you won't, just put the gun down." Tony spoke again inching closer.

Bella felt the pressure on the side of her head dissapate, before she knew what had happened, she heard the gun shot. Tony recoiled as the bullet hit him in the stomach. She screamed, Justin released her, bashing her in the back of the head with the gun.

Her vision blurred, she hit her knees, she could hear McGee's gun fire, then the squealing sound of Justin's tires. She didn't focus on splitting pain in the back of her head, instead she stumbled to her feet and made it to Tony's side.

"Tony! Tony talk to me!" She screamed, looking at the now pale face of the agent.

"Hey you do know my name…" Was his only response.

She shook her head, pulling the shirt she was wearing off and pressing it to his stomach, he winced. She heard McGee on the phone yelling for an ambulance. He hung up and ran to Tony's side.

"They said the closest bus will be at least twenty minutes…"

Bella shook her head looking at McGee. "He doesn't have twenty minutes." She looked behind her at the car. "Get him, give me the keys, I'll drive us there."

McGee nodded, carefully picking up the bleeding agent. Bella, forgetting about her own injury, quickly opened the car door, McGee sat with Tony pulled into him, holding the soaked shirt on the wound.

As Bella sped out of the drive way McGee spoke up from the back seat. "Do you know how to get into the hospital?"

Bella nodded. "I saw it on the way to the club the other night."

She ignored all the speed limits, stop signs, and red lights, her only focus was getting him there before it was too late.

"Tony? Stay awake Tony." McGee spoke up when he noticed Tony's eyes closing.

"Stay with us Tony we're almost there." Bella yelled from the front seat.

"Bella? Remember how you made breakfast the other day?" Tony's voice was barely audible.

Bella took a deep breath. "Yes I remember…."

"That burnt bacon was horrible."

"Then why did you eat it?" She asked, speeding through yet another red light.

"Cause I got to watch you cook more."

Bella bit down on her lip, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Well I'll make you some more okay?"

"His eyes are closing again…Tony! Tony wake up!" She could hear the worry in McGee's voice. She gripped the wheel tighter, her mind kept screaming, how this was all her fault. If she wouldn't have came to Abby, if she wouldn't have involved these guys in this, all this wouldn't have happened. Tony was dying because of her.

She saw the hospital sign and said a silent prayer as she pulled up to the emergency room. Her and McGee, holding a now lifeless Tony, ran into the ER.

The next twenty minutes were a blur, Bella wasn't really sure how she ended up in the waiting room, but she watched McGee pace the floor, just outside the door, she snuggled deeper into the coat McGee had given her, since her shirt was covered in Tony's blood.

She swallowed hard, her hands were stained with his blood, she could see it underneath her nails. She'd never seen someone shot, in high school there were several times people she knew were killed, shot for something or another, it was New Orleans after all, but she'd never actually seen it happen.

She was brought out of her daze when she heard McGee speak, Gibbs, Ziva and Abby were greeting him. She could hear Gibbs yelling, he smacked McGee upside the head several times. McGee looked like a scared kid getting yelled at by his father.

She slowly pushed herself from the chair, forcing herself to walk to the group, each step getting harder and harder. Once she was standing in front of them she heard Abby speak.

"Bella are you…"

She was cut off by Bella speaking. "Don't yell at him…this is my fault…everything is my fault…"

Gibbs looked at her. "Your fault?"

"Yes, but please don't hit me on the back of the head…I think it's already cracked open…" She barely finished her sentence before falling forward, McGee quickly caught her and Abby began calling for a nurse.


	11. Camisado

This is the scent of dead skin on a linoleum floor  
This is the scent of quarantine wings in a hospital  
It's not so pleasant  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as hell ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal

The anesthetic never set in and I'm wondering where  
The apathy and urgency is that I thought I phoned in  
It's not so pleasant.  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as hell ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal  
-Camisado by Panic! At The Disco-

Bella's eyes opened to bright lights, and her best friend leaning over the hospital bed. "She's awake she's awake!" Abby started yelling enthusiastically.

"Oiy, Abby let me explain what a splitting head ache feels like…" Bella began, sending her friend a half hearted glare.

"Oops, sorry love…" She replied, a small smile on her pretty face. "I'm just happy you finally woke up."

"Finally? What do you mean finally? How long have I been out?"

Before Abby could respond the doctor walked in, giving Bella a happy smile. "Well, I'm happy to see you've finally decided to join us."

"How long have I been out?"

"Oh, just a few hours, but long enough to make us worry." She walked to the bed side and began checking Bella's eyes, making sure they were responding correctly. "You're a lucky one dear, if it would have been cut open it would have been stitches, we would have to shave some of that pretty blond hair of yours."

"How's Tony?"

Abby gave a worried smile. "Well he just came out of surgery, they said they got the bullet out, it missed his vital organs, but he lost a lot of blood, he still hasn't come out of the anesthesia. But they say it all looks good…"

Bella gave her a skeptical look. "Then why do you look so worried."

Abby sighed. "You know me; I'm not content till I hear their voice."

Bella nodded, then immediately regretted it. "How mad is your boss?"

"Apparently he knew the whole time…saw you sneaking in the first day."

"So, I guess my ninja skills aren't as good as I thought they were?"

Abby smiled. "Don't worry, no one can out ninja Gibbs."

"I knew he knew…he caught me on the elevator the other day, told me not to tell you guys." Bella replied, biting her lip.

Abby gave a small laugh. "That sounds like him."

"But none of ya'll are in too much trouble right?"

"I think he's more worried about Tony than angry right now…" Abby responded, looking out the window into the busy hospital.

"Everything looks good for you; I'll see if I can't get them to send you some food, I'm sure you're hungry." The doctor said, giving one last smile before leaving the small room.

"She is just way to cheery…and if they make me eat hospital food I will projectile vomit in their face."

Abby giggled. "Oh come on maybe it'll be meatloaf."

Bella grimaced. "The only meatloaf I like is the kind that sings Hot Patootie in Rocky Horror."

Abby smiled, before she could respond, the room door opened and Ducky walked through. "Ducky! When did you get here?"

The older man looked from the bed towards Abby. "I got here shortly after everyone else, but you've been in here the whole time." Abby nodded in response, Ducky then turned his attention back to the petite blond in the bed. "So you must be the one that's been causing so much trouble the last few days."

Bella swallowed hard. "Guilty."

Ducky gave her a sweet smile. "Well, thank you for getting Tony here in time…"

"If it wasn't for me he wouldn't have needed to come here in the first place."

"Bells, you can't blame yourself for this…Tony knew what he was getting into." Abby said, face set in a frown as she looked down at Bella.

"Abigail is right, I doubt Tony would blame you in the slightest."

"He doesn't have to, I'm blaming myself plenty."

"You know, this reminds me of a time back when I was in school, a dear friend of mine was…" Ducky was cut off from another one of his long stories by an orderly delivering the food tray.

As the tray was placed on the little table over her bed, Bella grimaced at the smell. The orderly sent them all a smile then quietly made her way back out. Bella sent Abby a disgusted look. "Do I really have to eat this?"

Abby just smiled. "You don't even know what it is yet…it could be good." She lifted the lid and all three of them grimaced.

"Meatloaf…" Bella groaned.

Thirty minutes later, Bella had simply stabbed the meatloaf with her fork, and dumped the gravy into the bowl of lime jello, making a rather nasty looking soup. Ducky had left soon after the food came, going to sit with Gibbs in the waiting room.

The cheery doctor walked back in, sending both girls a warm smile. "Well Belinda I see you haven't eaten anything…" As she got closer to the bed she grimaced. "Ew, meatloaf day, can't say I blame you." She sent both girls another smile. "Well the good news is you're good to go, the nurses are pulling up your discharge papers now. I give you twenty minutes and you'll be sitting out there with the rest of your friends."

Bella just smiled but never spoke, the doctor gave one final look at her chart before walking back out the door. Bella sent Abby another look. "Do they drug test doctors? There are at least three different drugs that I know of that will do that to you…"

Abby laughed. "At least she's nice…."

Bella sighed. "Yea, yea…Niceness is overrated."

Less than twenty minutes later, she was getting dressed into some spare clothes Abby had in her car. The t-shirt was extremely oversized and the pants were too long, but at least the shoes were flip flops, didn't really matter that they were too big.

Bella leaned on Abby as they walked towards the waiting room, her head still pounding and the harsh lights were doing nothing to help. As they walked into the small room, all the eyes of the team met Bella. She swallowed hard, every voice in her head screaming to apologize, to grovel, tell them if there was any way she could switch places with him she would.

Abby and Bella sat across from them, Bella didn't want to look them in the eyes. She began staring at her hands, there was still blood underneath her nails, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying. When she saw a hand cover hers, she was shocked to look up and see Gibbs leaning towards her.

"Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. Gibbs leaned back, sitting straight in his chair, several moments of silence went by, the only sound was Bella's constant tapping of her foot on the tile floor.

"Are you here with Anthony DiNozzo?"

At the doctors voice all five bodies jumped to attention. Gibbs stood. "Yes, how is he?"

"Well he's awake, we have him one Morphine, so he might be a bit loopy."

"It's Tony that's nothing new…" Ziva mumbled, sending Bella a small smile.

"Can we see him?" Abby piped up.

"Yes, but I'm afraid only one at a time."

Abby nodded, Gibbs gave them all a final look before following the doctor.

"So, do you think he'll yell at him?" Bella asked, looking from person to person.

Ziva shrugged. "It depends on Tony I think…"

Silence followed, Bella curled up in her chair, leaning over on Abby. Soon Gibbs walked back into the room and took his seat next to Ducky once again. Ducky quickly stood and made his way in before Ziva or McGee could move.

After several minutes Bella whispered "I'm not sure I wanna go in…"

Abby looked down to her. "Why."

"Hospitals freak me out…besides, if I was in his position that he was in I would not want to see the cause…"

"Bella that's ridiculous…"

"Ducky's probably putting Tony back to sleep in there…" Ziva quipped, from her slouched position in the uncomfortable chair.

Abby sent Bella one more look before standing up. "I'll go save him."

Ducky came out of the room soon after Abby entered, it wasn't long before Abby was right back next to Bella and McGee was making his way into the room. Then, it seemed like all to soon Ziva was walking out, looking down at Bella. "Your turn."

Bella took a deep breath. "I'm sure he's tired didn't the doctor say something about him needing to sleep?"

Ziva sighed. "He asked for you, go."

Bella slowly stood up, walking the path she had watched the other four walk, chewing on her bottom lip the whole time. Once she made it to the door she stopped, staring at the name card. DiNozzo, A. She sighed, she could just turn and walk away, no one could see her in the waiting room…

She groaned and slowly pushed down on the door handle, the room was dim, the way she would have wished her room would have been when she woke up. The only lights were the lamp beside the bed and one over head light close to the bathroom. The hospital bed was raised slightly so that he was barely sitting up. As Bella reached the bed side he sent her a smile.

Images of his body recoiling as the bullet hit him, then crumbling to the ground flashed through her mind. Every time she looked him in the eyes she remembered what he looked like lying out on the ground, his color fading, his eyes going dull, slowly dying.

"Don't look so sad Bella, you look like someone died or something." He had his trademark smirk on his face.

"You almost did agent."

"Yes, you're right, I almost did, almost being the key word, besides this isn't the first time I've almost died…" He continued to smirk. "Stop calling me that, you know my name."

Bella shook her head. "Could you at least be mad at me or something? Yell at me, blame me for getting shot, tell me if it hadn't been for me you wouldn't be lying in this hospital bed."

"Why? I don't blame you."

"Because I'm blaming myself…"

"Don't, at least now we don't have to hide the investigation…the guy shot a Federal Officer…"

Bella shook her head. "Screw the investigation that is the last thing on my mind right now…you realize you could be dead?"

"Yes, I do, but do realize if he hadn't shot me, you would be lying on a slab in Ducky's morgue right now? He had a gun to your head Bella."

"I know!"

"And yet you're still upset with the situation…"

"If I would have died, at least it would have been my fault. Besides, I haven't really contributed much to society, my death would be a big loss, yours would."

"That is the biggest load of shit I have ever heard!"

Outside the door, Abby and McGee had their ears press to the door, trying their hardest to listen in. Abby looked over at the nurses station, a red stethoscope laid abandoned beside a notebook. She quickly grabbed it and put it to the door.

"What is going on? What are they saying?" Ziva asked from behind them.

"Sshhh!" They both replied in unison.

"Besides Bella, if you haven't noticed, this is my job, this is a hazard of my job, I get shot at on pretty much a daily basis, so don't think this is any different!" The monitor connected to Tony began beeping loudly, signaling the nurse that his blood pressure to rise. She came rushing in, pushing past Bella. As the nurse was fussing over Tony, Bella turned and quickly left the room, past the guilty looking trio, Abby was quickly trying to rid herself of the stethoscope.

"Bella where are you going?!" Abby yelled after her.

Bella didn't respond, she just continued towards the hospital doors.


	12. Nothin Better To Do

Sign read: BAIT, CHIPS BEER and AMMUNITION  
That Slim-Jim bag boy hadn't a prayer  
Well I hiked my skirt and did the talkin'  
While them boys were busy walkin'  
Case of .5 out the back door

Hid deep in the Mississippi backwoods  
We danced and played around 'til dark  
Well I had them wrestlin' for my first kiss  
Turned into a fight and they missed  
Me speeding off in Tommy's car

Mama said, "Idle hands are Devil's handywork"  
Oh, the trouble you'll get into  
You got nothin' better to do, got nothin' better to do  
You got nothin' better to do, got nothin' better to do  
-Nothin Better To Do by LeAnn Rimes-

"The security tapes show Bella leaving the hospital…but never coming back in." McGee spoke while Abby paced back and forth, Gibbs and Ziva standing close by.

"We have to find her! We have to!" Abby used her hands to emphasize her worry.

"I'm sure she's fine Abby, really how much trouble could she get into?" Ziva asked, trying to comfort the frazzled scientist.

"No you don't understand, you don't know Bella the way I do! She could find trouble anywhere! She is a magnet for accidents!"

"We'll find her Abby…" McGee insisted, placing his hand on the girls shoulder. She continued to pout, her forehead wrinkled in worry.

Ducky entered the waiting room, he looked at each agent, and then his eyes landed on the scientist. "Any idea what Bella and Tony were talking about? I tried getting Tony to give me some idea, but all he said was they argued."

Abby, Ziva, and McGee all looked guiltily from each other, Abby was the only one to speak. "We tried listening in, but it was really hard to hear, I heard Bella tell him she wanted him to blame her for it, something about the investigation not being important anymore that she didn't care anymore. Then she said that if she had died it wouldn't have been a big loss but his would have…"

"So she's feeling that she should have been the one shot, she feels like she put Tony in danger by asking you and the rest of the team to investigate this." Ducky replied with a nod.

"She told me she blamed herself before she even went in there." Abby bit her lip, looking around the room. "It's been nearly an hour…I just want to know where she is."

"Have they said anything about when Tony can leave?" Ziva looked expectantly at Ducky.

He sighed. "They said they're going to monitor him tonight and they'll judge from there." Ducky looked back at Abby. "From you're expression I can tell there has been no luck finding Bella?"

They all nodded, Gibbs was the only one to speak. "I'm sure she'll pop up somewhere…"

The doctor nodded. "What exactly happened? I missed the story."

Ziva sighed. "Apparently Tony and McGee were searching the house, they found a room with a coffin, blood, and victims pictures on the wall, Bella's purse and luggage was there as well. They heard her scream, ran out and found the suspect with a gun to Bella's head, after some arguing he shot Tony…"

"Is anyone at the house? What if he comes back?"

Ziva nodded. "There is a detail out front, we stopped by before coming here to get Bella's purse and luggage and collect some other evidence."

"Well that's one good thing at least, she has no money, she can't go far." McGee added.

After walking in circles for an hour Bella had realized her options were limited, with no money there weren't many places she could go. She slowly walked back into the hospital parking lot, she noticed both the NCIS cars still in the parking lot, she took a deep breath, the last thing she really wanted to do was face them again.

As she was passing the vehicles she noticed something in the back seat. The metal logo of her Kathy Van Zeeland purse was shining as the sunlight hit, her large luggage sat right next to it. Before she realized what she was doing, she was crying with her face pressed to the window of the car.

"Is everything alright ma'am?"

Bella jumped from her position to see a police officer, looking down at her skeptically. Without thinking twice she spoke. "No, nothing is right…my friend just got shot! I really need to get home to get him things for his room ya know? They said making him comfortable is the best way to help him heal up! But I can't go home because I locked my purse, my keys and my cell phone in my car!" She pointed into the window, tears still pouring.

"Calm down it's alright…I'm sure you could use the hospitals phones to call someone…"

She cut him off. "No, don't you get it?! There is no one I can call, I'm all he has!"

The cop took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll pop the lock for you, but only if you promise to calm down, the last thing your friend needs is you to be upset when you see him."

She smiled through her tears. "Thank you, you have no idea how much this helps…" She watched with a small smirk as he walked back to his car to get the proper tool for the job. As he was walking back he held it up with a smile. Within minutes the door was unlocked, he sent her a grin.

"See everything's taken care of."

She continued to smile. "You seriously just saved the day."

He nodded. "I hope everything works out for your friend."

"I'm sure it will."

He gave her one last smile before walking off. Bella quickly grabbed her purse and suitcase and ran as fast as she could. As the cop made it to the stairs of the hospital, he turned to see Bella quickly getting into a cab. Confused, he walked back to the car and looked inside, the purse and luggage was gone, he walked to the back of the car and looked at the license plate, he swore under his breath when he saw it was a federal vehicle.

He quickly ran into the hospital, the nurse behind the counter gave him a strange look. "Are the feds here?"

"Why is there a problem?" The nurse asked, sending him a glare.

"I need to speak with them, it's about their car."

She nodded. "I'll call up to the nurse on their floor."

Up on the second floor, Tony's nurse hung up the phone, she looked out into the waiting room, seeing the group of agents still standing there she quickly made her way over to them. "Excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but apparently there is a officer at the front desk who says there is something wrong with your car…"

They quickly made their way downstairs; the officer was still at the desk, pacing nervously. As Gibbs stopped in front of him he gave him a stern look. "Officer?" The young cop spilled his guts to the older agent. When the story was finished Gibbs was livid.

Before he spoke Abby piped up from behind him. "If you were on his team he'd be slapping you in the head by now…"

"Are you out of your mind?! That was a federal car!" Gibbs tore into him.

"Well at least Bella has some clean clothes now…" Ziva mumbled, receiving a glare from Gibbs.

"No boss, this is a good thing!" McGee turned from Gibbs to the officer. "You said she grabbed the purse right? Now maybe we can track her credit cards, if she checks into a hotel or something…maybe even her cell phone."

Gibbs nodded. "Alright, McGee, Ziva head back to the office and get to work on that, as soon as you find her, call me."

Ziva and McGee both nodded and quickly headed towards the car.


	13. If It Makes You Happy

You get down, real low down  
You listen to Coltrane, derail your own train  
Well who hasn't been there before?  
I come round, around the hard way  
Bring you comics in bed, scrape the mold off the bread  
And serve you french toast again  
Well, o.k. I still get stoned  
I'm not the kind of girl you'd take home

If it makes you happy  
It can't be that bad  
If it makes you happy  
Then why the hell are you so sad  
-If It Makes You Happy by Sheryl Crow-

Gibbs, Ziva, McGee and Abby walked into the book store, Gibbs went straight to the cashier.

He flashed his badge to the young girl. "Special Agent Gibbs, we got a hit on a missing girls credit car, says she used it here." He took the picture Abby was holding and showed it to the cashier. "Have you seen her?"

The young girl nodded. "She was in here about half an hour ago, she changed her clothes in the bathroom, had a suitcase with her, she bought one book and left…she seemed upset."

"We'll need to see the tapes…" McGee spoke up from behind his boss.

"Of course, I'll just have to call my manager."

The manager brought the team into the office, rewinding the tapes back to the estimated time of Bella's visit. Abby was the first to point her out. "There she is…"

XxXxXxX

_Bella's taxi stopped outside Barnes and Noble, she paid the taxi and quickly made her way inside, she headed straight for the bathroom, ignoring the strange looks from people as she passed. Once inside the bathroom she locked the door and quickly began to strip, pulling clothes from her suitcase, she slid into a pair of AE sweatpants and sweatshirt, she shoved the clothes Abby had given her back into the bag and made her way back out into the store. _

_She looked around the store, she needed to buy some time to figure out what next, she walked to the staff recommendation section and waited for something to catch her eye. 'Coroners Journal: Forensics and the Art of Stalking Death' was on the bottom shelf, she quickly grabbed it and walked to the check out. _

_As she stepped out of the store she realized, she still had nowhere to go, she began to walk, before long she found a park and settled down in the gazebo, she pulled out her book and began to read as if nothing was wrong. After about five minutes of reading the same line over and over again she slammed the book shut. _

XxXxXxX

"Boss, we got another hit on Bella's credit card, she bought something at the Town Crier." McGee spoke as he hung up his phone.

"Town Crier?" Ziva parroted.

Abby sighed. "She smokes when she's stressed."

"Let's go."

XxXxXxXx

Tony grunted as he unbuckled his seat belt, Abby leaned up from the backseat of McGee's car. "Are you sure you don't want one of us to stay with you? You know, help out…"

Tony sighed. "I'll be fine, I swear spend a few days in the hospital and people think you're incapable of taking care of yourself."

McGee glared at him. "She's just worried about you."

"Me or her missing friend?"

Abby huffed. "It's been three days and I haven't heard a word from her! Of course I'm worried…but I'm worried about you too."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, I'm coming back in tomorrow."

"But the doctor said…" Abby was cut off by Tony.

"I don't care what the doctor said I wanna catch this asshole." Tony responded, opening the car door and slowly climbing out. He leaned back in the look at Abby. "Stop worrying, she'll show up." With that, he shut the door.

The whole elevator ride up, he was leaning against the back wall, his eyes shut trying to stop the thoughts that were going through his mind. He too was worried about Bella, the last time she had used her card was at a gas station ATM two days ago, she apparently had realized they could trace her card and had withdrawn a decent amount of money.

When the elevator opened to his floor he slowly made his way to his door, fighting with his keys. As soon as he opened the door he was hit with the smell of smoke, he looked around the apartment, everything was the same as it was when he left, it didn't look like anyone had been there. Pulling his gun, he locked the door behind him and followed the smell into his bedroom and through the open bathroom door.

He could see smoke rising from above the shower curtain, a small light was visible through the dark material. As quietly as he could he stepped closer, took a deep breath and ripped the curtain back.

Bella jumped, Tony stared at her in shock, she was sitting with a book in her lap, a flashlight in one hand and her cigarette dangling from her mouth.

After several moments of them staring at each other, he spoke. "You're smoking in my apartment…"

Bella took the cigarette from her mouth. "I do it when I'm upset…I'm sorry."

He scrunched his nose at the smell. "I smell vanilla..."

She gave a half hearted smile. "They're vanilla....they don't smell as bad." She stood up as he put his gun away. She stepped out of the tub, turning to drop the lit cigarette into the toilet. "What you don't like the smell of vanilla?"

"I love it, just not mixed with smoke."

She turned back to him, he was staring at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation, she froze. "I had all of this planned out, what I would say, what I would do, but I've forgotten it all..." He didn't respond, just continued to stare at her in the dark room. Much to his surprise, she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, successfully hitting his wound in the process, but he was far to shocked to notice the pain.

"I'm so sorry Tony..."

"You really don't have to apologize."

She pulled away, rubbing her palms on her jeans nervously. "How about I make you some more burnt bacon?"

He shook his head, pulling out his cell phone. "How about you call your best friend? You know, tell her you're not dead."

She sheepishly took the cell phone. "I feel like a runaway calling home to my mother..."


	14. Sober

I don't wanna be the girl that has to fill the silence  
The quiet scares me 'cause it screams the truth  
Please don't tell me that we had that conversation  
'Cause I won't remember, save your breath  
'Cause what's the use?

Ah, the night is callin'  
And it whispers to me softly, "Come and play"  
But I, I am fallin'  
And if I let myself go I'm the only one to blame

I'm safe up high, nothing can touch me  
But why do I feel this party's over?  
No pain inside, you're like perfection  
But how do I feel this good sober?  
-Sober By Pink-

When Tony heard the knocking he knew exactly who it was. Bella was too busy in the kitchen, cooking bacon, to pay any attention to the sound. When he opened it, a very angry Abby was standing on the other side.

"Hey Abby..."

She squinted her eyes at him. "Where is she?!" She pushed past him and stormed into the kitchen. Bella turned to look at her and sent Abby her brightest smile. Abby took deep breath and went off. "How could you run off like that? I was worried sick! You are completely new to this area, you could have gotten lost! What would you have done then huh? Seriously! God Bella do you ever stop to think?"

By the time Abby had finished her rant, Bella was biting her bottom lip trying to keep from laughing. "You done?"

Abby huffed. "Not in the slightest…" She stepped forward, pulling the shorter girl into a hug. "I was terrified, all I could think of was that time in high school when you got lost in Lafayette…two days, two days you were lost and your parents had trusted you to me and my parents and I lost you and..."

Bella cut her off. "Okay, one, we both know my parents wouldn't have cared much if I never came home, two I was fourteen, my sense of direction wasn't near as honed as it is now."

Abby sent her a knowing look. "Bells, your sense of direction was never good and will never be good, you still get lost back home."

"Just cause I don't memorize road names doesn't make me a bad person!"

"No, just a lost one." Tony quipped from behind them.

They both turned their attention back to him. "No one asked you!" They replied in unison.

He smirked. "You guys just make it too easy."

Bella raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk. "Well that's not the first time I've heard that."

Abby giggled. "By the way, you're a genius for getting that cop to pop the lock for you."

Bella laughed. "Not many men can hold out on a woman when she's crying."

"Gibbs wasn't to happy about it, but I think he was secretly amused by it. " Abby replied.

Bella smirked. "Most are secretly amused by me, " She stuck her tongue out at Tony, he just shook his head. "Have you guys had any luck finding Mr. Fang Face?"

Abby shook her head. "Not a bit, but we're hoping he'll turn his cell phone on soon, so we can trace it."

Bella nodded and silence followed, several minutes passed before Tony spoke up. "Um…Bella did you forget something?"

At that moment Bella smelt the burning bacon. "Oh shit!" She turned and pulled the pan off the stove, waving away as much of the smoke as she could. Ignoring the laughter behind her she poured the bacon out of the pan and onto the plate, then sighed, she turned her attention back to Abby. "Want some burnt bacon?"

XxXxXxX

"Weren't you supposed to stay out the rest of the week?" Ziva asked as Tony walked into the office, Bella following close behind, a guest badge hanging from her Ninja Turtle T-shirt. He sent her a look she just smiled and turned her attention to Bella. "Well, hello again Bella, it's nice to see you know how to use the front door."

"I always knew how to use the front door, I just chose not to." Bella retorted with a smile. As Tony sat behind his desk, Gibbs entered, on his way to his desk, he stopped in front of the blond, then without a word, smacked her on the back of the head. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

"For breaking into a federal vehicle, now get your ass down to the lab, where you won't be such a distraction."

Bella broke into another grin. "Well, Agent Gibbs, I'm a distraction for you?"

He looked directly at Tony as he spoke. "I wasn't meaning for me."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Please, I think Agent DiNozzo is over that by now, I think I'm just more of an annoyance now." She sent Tony one last smirk before turning and walking back towards the elevator.

"A bit of a handful, no?" Ziva asked, looking at Tony from her desk.

He sighed. "You have no idea."

Down in the lab, Abby was digging though the evidence taken from the suspects house, McGee was on the other side of the table, helping her kept track of the many items.

"Morning dear!" Abby beamed at her as the door shut behind her. "How does it feel to be here legally?"

Bella laughed. "Not as mission impossible as sneaking around was." As she stepped closer to the table, McGee took a double take at her shirt.

"The Ninja Turtles? I used to love that show!" He exclaimed. "That was my favorite Saturday morning cartoon."

Bella looked at him skeptically. "Favorite turtle?"

"Raphael of course." McGee replied.

She walked closer to him, holding up her hand, he gave her a high-five. "You've just earned so many brownie points." She said with a small laugh.

"Although technically since you stole that shirt from our car that is evidence." He added.

She huffed. "God does anyone ever forget things around here? That was so four days ago, forget about it and move on, besides, it's really, really cool evidence. It's either this or I walk around naked, your choice agent."

He opened his mouth to respond, but the glare Abby was sending him quickly shut him up. Bella just grinned, he shook his head. "I'm just going to keep my mouth shut."

"Might be wise Agent McGee." Bella nodded. Abby just grinned and turned to face one of her many computers. "So any more clues about the asshole?"

McGee spoke up. "We recovered his laptop, we're working to see if it could hold any clues as to where he might be." As he spoke, he pulled out the small, black Dell computer from one of the plastic bags.

Bella nodded. "So, I heard he had pictures hanging on the wall of all his victims, is that true?"

"Yes, there were a few." McGee replied as he turned on the laptop.

"How has no one come forward about this yet? Shouldn't there be some sort of police report from other victims?" The blond asked, settling herself into Abby's chair.

McGee shrugged. "Embarrassment maybe, didn't want to admit that they were attacked by this vampire wanna-be."

"Stupid reason not to come foreword if you ask me." Abby commented, not once looking up from her work.

Bella nodded. "Personally I wanna see the bastard behind bars, but I just have a vindictive spirit."

Abby laughed. "That's an understatement."

Bella hissed at her, only cause Abby to laugh more. "Well, I can only hope the justice system up here isn't so easily swayed as it is down south." Bella mumbled, running her hands through her hair.

"What do you mean by that?" McGee asked, eyes looking at her over the laptop screen.

"Back home if you pay off the right person, you could get away with anything." She sighed, standing up from her chair. "I'm gonna go get some air."

"If I catch you smoking young lady, I'll kick your ass!" Abby yelled at her as she opened the door.

"Yes mom!"


	15. No Surprise

I've practiced this for hours, gone round and round  
And now I think that I've got it all down  
And as I say it louder I love how it sounds  
Cause I'm not taking the easy way out  
Not wrapping this in ribbons  
Shouldn't have to give a reason why

It's no surprise I won't be here tomorrow  
I can't believe that I stayed till today  
Yeah you and I will be a tough act to follow  
But I know in time we'll find this was no surprise  
-No Surprise by Daughtry-

Bella sighed, sliding down the side of the building, taking deep breaths. The truth was, the thought of going into another court room, terrified her, and if they catch this guy, there was a very high chance of her having to go to one. The last time, well that was disastrous. Even with the pictures and scars from her fathers abuse, he was still not convicted, it turned out he had lined the judges pocket quite nicely before the court date. Luckily by the time the case was over, she was eighteen and could legally live on her own. She left her parent's house and never looked back.

She pulled the pack of cigarettes out of her purse and lit one up, closing her eyes she let her head fall back against the wall. She ran a hand up to her neck, sliding her fingers over the puncture wounds. How did this visit get so fucked up so quickly?

"You know those things will kill you right?"

Bella opened one eye, Agent Gibbs was standing over her, looking down at her with annoyance. She sighed, closing her eyes again. "You don't like me very much, do you agent Gibbs?"

He stepped closer, crouching down beside her. "I never said that."

She opened both eyes, looking over at him. "You don't have to, I can tell. It's okay, most people don't like me, I'm not a very easy person to get along with."

"Only because you try to be that way, it's a defense mechanism."

She let out a small laugh. "Please, don't go psycho-analyzing me, if I wanted that I'd go to a shrink."

"You use humor to hide what you're feeling, it's okay, DiNozzo does it to." She sent him a look and he continued. "You talk when you're nervous, you almost always resort back to violence."

"Abby's right you are magical."

"No, Abby told me, she worries about you."

She sighed. "So is there a reason behind this little confrontation? Or did you just want to share with me how willing my best friend is to tell all of my quirks to anyone that will listen."

He shook his head, standing back up. "McGee found something on the computer, he and Ziva are on their way to possibly pick up Gray, I just thought you might like to know." With one last look, he turned and walked back up the sidewalk, towards the front doors.

With a groan, Bella pushed herself up, she put out her cigarette and made her way back into the building.

When the elevator doors opened, Bella walked towards the teams desks to find Tony was the only one there. "Hey Tony, why didn't you go with McGee and Ziva?"

He sighed, not once looking up from his computer. "Because I was shot four days ago…"

"Right." She responded with a nod. "Sorry about that." She turned and began to go back to the elevator.

"You really should stop doing that."

She turned back to face him, he was finally looking at her. "Doing what?"

"Apologizing for something that's not your fault."

"But if I wouldn't have..."

Tony stood up cutting her off. "Stop blaming yourself!"

She took a deep breath, then turned and stormed back to the elevator. Tony sat back in his chair, rubbing his forehead. This girl was beyond complicated, her moods changed quicker than anything he'd ever seen, and she was a pain in the ass.

So why was he so attached?

Down in Abby's lab, Genitorturers was blaring from the speakers as she bounced around the room from computer to computer. The door shut behind Bella, she smirked at the show before her.

In the middle of Abby's dancing, she spun around and immediately stopped when she saw Bella. "Hi love."

Bella sighed. "We really need to talk about your compulsive blabbing to that boss of yours."

Abby's smile faltered. "I can't help it, Gibbs induced word vomit for me."

"There should be a pill for that by now." Bella commented as she fell back into Abby's chair.

"Well, there is good news, they might be bringing Gray in when they come back." Abby said, trying to lighten her best friends mood.

"Do I really always resort to violence?"

Abby laughed and nodded. "Always, when your computer crashed in sophomore year of college what did you do?"

"Threw it out the window, big deal..."

"We were on the second floor, it hit two people."

Bella smiled. "I still fail to see how that is a bad thing."

Abby sighed and leaned against the table. "Stop avoiding it Bella, you came down here for something. So spit it out."

Bella looked down at her hands in her lap, she was rubbing them together nervously. "I'm going home Abbs."

"What do you mean you're going home? You have to stay at least until the case is settled."

Bella shook her head. "I can't, I have to go back home."

"Why? What is so important back home?"

"I have things that have to be taken care of."

Abby set her jaw, turning her back to Bella she began working on her computer again. "Fine, but make sure you tell everyone bye, after putting their asses on the line it's the least you could do."

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but the lab door opened and Tony stepped inside. "McGee and Ziva just brought Gray in." Bella gave him a confused look. "Well I thought you might want to watch the interrogation."

She nodded and stood up, following Tony to the door, she turned back around. "Love you Abbs."

Abby stiffened, still refusing to look at her. "You too Bells."

The elevator ride and the walk to the viewing room was silent. In the room Justin Gray was sitting at the table with Ziva leaning against the wall behind him, Gibbs sat at the table facing him.

Bella was intimidated and she wasn't even in the same room as them, she couldn't imagine what Gray must be feeling. She smiled at the thought.

"So Gray, do you believe you are a vampire?"

Gray never spoke, just continued to look at the table. Ziva pushed off from the wall, walking around to stand next to Gibbs. "It seems he did not hear you Gibbs, I thought vampires were supposed to have good hearing."

"Well, if he is a vampire he's obviously not a very good one, he was caught in the day light." Gibbs spoke, leaning forward and placing his hands on the table.

Ziva smiled. "He even has to knock out his victims before biting them, pretty sorry if you ask me."

Gray still didn't speak, he just stared at the table, Gibbs sighed and leaned back in his chair. "The thing is Gray, you don't have to talk, we have one of your victims who will testify that she was at the club with you, we also have a video of you at said club with the victim, and besides, our agent that you shot, he is more than happy to testify against you ass."

"You're going to be in jail for a very long time and you don't even have to confess."

"I thought he was supposed to have a lawyer present?" Bella asked, turning to look at Tony.

He shook his head. "Only if he asks for one."

She nodded, turning back to look at the interrogation. "So, does seeing him make you nauseous? Because it does me."

"He pisses me off, but doesn't make me sick."

Bella nodded once again, she took a quick glance at him. "Tony, can I say something without you stopping me please?"

He looked over at her. "Yes, unless you're going to apologize again, then no."

She chewed on her bottom lip, looking at him. "I wish you would just acknowledge is was my fault."

"I wish you would just acknowledge that it's not." He replied, eyes set on the interrogation.

Bella took a deep breath and turned to stand in front of him, successfully blocking his view of the interrogation. She stepped closer, placed one hand on his stomach, she could feel the bandage underneath his shirt. "I'm sorry Tony."

"Stop apl…" Before he could finish his sentence, she stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his.

When she pulled back her voice was quiet as she spoke. "Maybe I wasn't apologizing for that." She took one last deep breath in front of him before walking to the door.

He turned to her. "Bella…"

"I'll see you later Tony." Without another word she stepped out of the room.


	16. Kiss Yourself Goodbye

Dreaming you, is so easy, yeah  
If it was up to me, then you would cry tonight  
If it was up to you

Take you, take me away  
I can't go with you now  
Don't you wish I'd try  
Left just a trace, it's growing colder still  
So kiss yourself goodbye  
-Kiss Yourself Goodbye by The All American Rejects-

Tony was standing outside the interrogation room door when Ziva and Gibbs walked out, two officers followed behind with Gray in handcuffs, he glared at Tony, whose only response was to hiss.

"That was mature." Ziva commented as she passed him.

"I never claimed to be mature." He replied.

Ziva shook her head and continued to follow Gibbs. "Are you coming?"

Tony shook his head. "I will in a minute, I need to go find Bella."

Ziva nodded and Tony made his way to the elevator. On the ride down to Abby's lab, he considered everything he could possibly say to Bella when he saw her, but nothing seemed quite right.

When he got into the lab he was shocked to find the music off and neither Abby or Bella were anywhere in sight. "Abby?" He yelled, walking farther into the lab, he heard the familiar sound of Bart the hippo and followed it to find Abby sitting on the floor, curled up with him pulled to her chest. "Abby, are you okay? Where's Bella?"

She took a deep breath and hugged Bart closer. "By that question I'm guessing she didn't tell you." She shook her head, then looked up at him. "She's gone Tony."

"What?"

"She said she had to go, had things she had to take care of back home, which is total shit if you ask me. I think she's afraid."

He sat down next to her, she scooted closer, leaning her head on his shoulder. "What would she be afraid of?"

"Courtrooms have bad memories for her. Understandably so, but I still wish she would have stayed." She took a deep breath. "Well, she does have dogs, maybe she's just worried about them, or her job, it could be her job…"

Tony shook his head. "Does she always leave to abruptly?"

"No, probably why it's bothering me so much, I barely got to spend anytime with her. She's done this before, but that was because my boyfriend gave her the creeps…" She shook her head. "I know what'll happen, she'll get home, wont call me for a few days, when she calms down, she'll call and everything will be back to normal."

"I guess that's what she meant by 'I'll see you later', I wish she would have told me."

Abby took a deep breath. "Bella is probably one of the bravest people I know, I believe if I had a childhood half as bad as she did I would have been much more fucked up than she is. Yet, at the same time she won't think twice about running from something that reminds her of her parents…"

Tony shook his head, he always wanted the ones he could never have.

XxXxX

When the plane landed at the Louis Armstrong airport, Bella took a sigh of relief, she was finally home, walking from the terminal she could feel the heat coming through the windows, causing her to smile.

By the time she got her luggage and was in a cab, she was beyond exhausted, she quickly called the girl, who'd been staying with her dogs, and informed her she was on her way home, the last thing she wanted to deal with was being bombarded by questions about her trip.

She relaxed into the seat of the cab, ignoring the song playing on the cabbies radio. She would be lying if she said she didn't regret leaving so quickly, she regretted leaving Abby so quickly, after everything she put on the line for her and she couldn't even stay long enough to see the case through.

Yes, it was true, she was chicken shit.

She shifted, suddenly uncomfortable with herself. She rolled down the window and was hit by the humid New Orleans air. Bumper to bumper traffic wasn't exactly new to her, but she suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

She kept listing the reasons she had for leaving over and over in her head, but they didn't stack up against the reasons for staying. Shaking her head she told herself it was to late, she'd made her bed, now she'll have to sleep in it.

"You know a first sign of insanity is when you argue with yourself."

Bella looked up to see the cabbies dark brown eyes looking at her in the rearview mirror, she could tell he was smiling. She couldn't help but smile back. "Okay, what does it mean when you lose said argument with yourself?"

He chuckled. "Oh well, that means you're fucked."

She laughed with him. "It seems to me you missed your calling, you would have really made it as a therapist."

"Nah, I'd piss my patients off too much."

The rest of her ride home was filled with sarcastic comments between the two, when he dropped her off at her house, she gave him a large tip just because for a second he had made her forget what a loser she felt like.

When she walked into her room, she was nearly attacked by her three dogs, all trying to give her kisses, normally it would have made her feel better, but not today.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she'd made such a big mistake.

XxXxXxX

When Tony got home, he ached, it was bad enough his stomach was still bothering him, but the rest of his body decided to join in on the fun apparently.

Oh joy.

After locking the door he couldn't help but look around the rest of the apartment, it's tidiness was unnerving, it reminded him to much of the girl who cleaned it. In disgust he grabbed the neatly stacked magazines off the coffee table and threw them on the floor, their pages opened, subscription papers lying in disarray. He threw the mail on the couch, scattered letters and bills across the cushions.

Feeling slightly better with the situation, he made his way to his bed room, all he could think about doing was pulling the sheets over his head and sleeping for at least eight hours. Maybe when he woke up it'll be some crazy dream?

He sat at the edge of his bed, unclipped his gun and placed it on the bedside table, he quickly began unbuttoning his shirt, but stopped when he smelt it. Cigarette smoke clings to places, it takes time to air out, he would be smelling it for a while, and every time he smelt it he would think of her, sitting in his bathtub, curled up like a child trying to hide from someone.

As if the smell wasn't bad enough without that memory. He fell backwards into his bed, a single word escaping his mouth in anger. "Fuck."


End file.
